


Strings of Fate

by ShadowclanMC



Series: Percy Jackson and the House of Night [2]
Category: House of Night - P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Crossover
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:46:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26481376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowclanMC/pseuds/ShadowclanMC
Summary: Percy has finally been able to warn his friends against Neferet, and has solved the mystery behind who was killing the Huffman teenagers. The only problem, Stevie Rae had become a part of the group responsible after she rejected the change. Percy and Zoey promised they would help her overcome her new nature, but will it be easy? Or are they messing with the Strings of Fate?
Series: Percy Jackson and the House of Night [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665640
Kudos: 1





	1. Happy Birthday Zoey

A month has passed since Zoey and I went on a quest to save her ex-boyfriend and found out that more than just a couple fledgling have been coming back from the dead, and me and Zoey officially decided to get put on Neferet’s shit list. It also marked a month from finding out that our friend, Stevie Rae was sorta alive again. You see a month ago, her body rejected the change, resulting in her death. The night she died Zoey got a vision of her and a few other fledglings that rejected the change as these twisted versions of themselves, but that’s not all she saw. She also saw her ex-boyfriend, Heath Luck, being taken by these twisted fledglings. When the news came out he was missing, well that sparked Zoey in telling me her vision, and all of us coming out with a plan to save Heath. Us going after Heath was a caticalist that led us to being put on Neferet’s shit list, and me and Zoey have done everything in our power to keep our friends, the Nerd Herd, safe while we all come up with a plan to help Stevie Rae have all of her humanity back.

Which brings us to today. Today is Zoey’s 17th birthday, december 24th. You see the Twins and Damien tried to get us all to coordinate our gifts, but the demigod crew wanted to give Zoey something personal this year to her, and it definitely wouldn't fit with the theme Damien and the Twins wanted us all to do. We decided to make her a Camp Half-blood beaded necklace, I even wore mine today. We all worked on one part of the necklace. I wove the string and picked the color, purple, as that is the element that she has the strongest tie to. Annabeth created the designs for each bead, she worked really hard on each one. The first bead was the triple moon symbol of Nyx, signifying her becoming the leader of the Dark Daughters. The second bead was a pentacle with colors representing each element, it signified her and her circle all having affinities for the elements and our journey on discovering the truth behind Neferet. Nico and Will worked on painting the beads as they had the steadiest hands out of all of us. We hoped that Zoey would like her gift from us, but besides the group gift we got we also had our own gifts. I decided to crochet a blanket for her, like I did for my mom and Annabeth.

The whole herd however decided to have a party for Zoey, a little get together where we can give her her gifts and just hang out with friends. Only one problem though, Zoey was taking a while to even come to the dorm commons. So me and Damien decided to go and see if everything was okay. We both talked together, something, even if we are roommates, we haven't been able to do recently. 

“All I am saying is I have never met a person that dislikes their birthday as much as Zoey.” Damien mentioned as we walked down Zoey’s hallway. “She acts like it’s cursed.” 

I couldn’t help but chuckling, “Maybe it’s because it’s so close to christmas?” I wondered out loud as we slowed our pace. “I mean, I would imagine her birthday get’s mashed with christmas 90% of the time.” 

Damien stopped walking then looked at me, “Do you think she hates winter/christmas themed gifts for her birthday?” 

I stopped with him and tilted my head, “It’s a possibility, but she hasn’t told me anything of the sort.” I answered then placed my hand on his shoulder. “That’s your guys theme?” 

Damien nodded then rubbed his neck, “Yeah, what do we do now if she doesn’t like those types of gifts?” 

I shrugged, “I’m not sure, but my best course of action would be not to get made at her for not telling.” I said then looked him in the eye. “We both know the one person she would have told.” 

Damien nodded then got his phone out as we got to Zoey’s dorm. I saw him sending a text to Erik, Jack, Shaunee, and Erin. Telling them my advice I assumed. I smiled and knocked on her door. “Zoey, are you okay? Everyone is getting anxie, Damien came along with me.” I said and earned a punch to my arm. 

“Ah- I’m sorry I’m almost ready.” Zoey yelled through her door and heard some muttering a shuffling on the other side. Me and Damien waited for a bit before Zoey opened the door and I noticed the slight puffiness around her eyes. I immediately placed an arm around her and so did Damien.

“We miss her too.” Damien said and Zoey smiled a bit and chuckled. 

“Was it that obvious?” She said and Damien shook his head. 

“Not to me, I was tipped off something was wrong when Percy’s expression changed.” Damien answered and she looked at me. 

I motioned to where her puffiness was on my own face. “I could see the puffiness, but I think that’s because I have had practice.” 

Zoey chuckled a bit and nodded, she then looped her arms in between mine and Damien’s and had a small smile. “I just wish she could be here, and wasn’t in some cave somewhere.” 

“Hey, we’ll save her.” Damien said and nudged her a bit as we walked. “Your forgetting that both you and Percy have been working non stop on a plan for us to help her.” 

“Yeah!” I said trying to cheer her up, “Not to mention Annabeth has been writing to Camp asking our old mentor Chiron if he knows anything about what might be happening.” 

Zoey looked at me, “Has written her back?” 

“Nothing more except he would look into what Annabeth told him.” I answered and both Damien and she nodded. 

“Well, let’s hurry up.” Zoey said with a smile. “I can’t wait to open up your guys gifts.”

Damien smiled big and he chuckled. “I can’t wait for you to see what we all got you.” He then gave me a knowing look. “Even if some of the gifts may not be your ideal gifts.” 

Zoey chuckled a bit smiling, “I can’t wait to open them.” 

We all then made our way to the dorm commons smirking knowing what was going to happen when we walked into the computer lab that the twins decided we would have the party. Damien decided to fill the air by talking about his journey with finding the gift he got Zoey, without spoiling everything, of course. I could help but feel a bit relaxed as we like nothing was going on that were ‘normal’ fledgling teens.

Once we all walked into the computer lab everyone broke into a rendition of Happy Birthday. I heard Nala hiss and a wave of annoyance come off of her as she ran away. I chuckled as I overheard Zoey call her a coward. “Happy Birthday!” We all said together as we took our seats and Erik came up behind Zoey. I sat down with Annabeth, Will and Nico next to her smiling. Erik kissed Zoey and everyone smiled, Shaunee then chuckled watching the two.

“Hey, Erik, why don’t you spread some of that birthday sugar around?” Shaunee eased wiggling her eyebrows.

‘Yeah, sweet thang.” Erin continued in an equal teasing tone. “How about a little b-day kiss over here.” 

Zoey rolled her eyes smiling, “Uh, it’s not  _ his  _ birthday. You only get to kiss the birthday boy or girl.” 

“Damn,” Shaunee said chuckling. “When is your birthday?” She asked Erik, causing everyone to laugh and we all settled down. 

Once Zoey and Erik were seated Zoey went to snek another kiss when a whirlwind came through the door. “Yea! She hasn’t opened her presents yet. Happy birthday, Zoey!” Jack, Damiens boyfriend, said giving Zoey and Damien a big hug. 

Damien chuckled and he looked at Jack as he sat down next to him. “I told you that you needed to hurry up.”

“I know, but I wanted to make sure everything was  _ perfect _ .” Jack said right before going into his bag and lifting out a box wrapped in a very christmassy packaging. “I made the bow myself.” 

“Jack’s really good at crafts,” Erik said smiling at Zoey, “He’s just not good at cleaning up the crafts.” 

“Sorry,” Jack said, giving Erik a sweet smile. “I promise I’ll clean up right after the party.”

“Hello! Speaking of presents!” Shaunee said getting our attention. 

“Bring that gift over to the gift table so Zoey can start and open her presents.” Erin continued and Jack stepped up and quickly brought it to the table. Zoey then stood up and picked up that present first smiling. 

We all got up to get a better look at Zoey and Will leaned next to me and whispered, “Zoey is the happiest she’s been in a long while.” 

I smiled but then my brain started turning, how did he know that? Annabeth grabbed my hand as Zoey pulled out a snow globe with a little snowman inside it. Zoey didn’t lose her smile as she held it. She then looked at Jack. 

“Thank you, no one has ever given me a snow globe before.” She said and carefully set in on the table. “One of you should carry that back to my dorm when this is done, I’m afraid I’ll break it.” 

We all chuckled then Damien handed her his present, it wasn’t wrapped as extravagantly as Jack’s but it was pristine. Zoey smiled as she glided the ribbons off the box, and her smile got bigger when she pulled out this gorgeous scarf. There were tiny outlines of snow men along the bottom of the scarfs. She kept her smile and ran her fingers along the snowmen. She then hugged Damien and smiled, whispering something into his ear to which she just nodded.

Then the twins handed her their present, “Now we didn’t follow the snowman theme, we just thought our theme was just an overarching concept.” 

Zoey chuckled a bit opening their present, “That’s alright- Ohmygoodness!” She said as she pulled out these black stiletto boots. There were snowflakes going down the inside side of each boot. “These must have cost you a fortune!” 

“It more so took us forever to find them,” Shaunee said with a smile.

“Plain boots would not do for Ms. Born-on-the-Twenty-Fourth.” Erin continued causing everyone to chuckle including Zoey. 

Zoey placed the boots back into the box and then noticed the six other gifts on the table. “Why are there six- shouldn’t there only be five?” 

“Uh, I'm afraid that’s our fault.” I said causing everyone to chuckle. “The four of us break the theme rule and decided to give you a group present as well as our individual gift.” I explained and Zoey smiled.

“Which one is the group gift?” Zoey asked me and I got up and grabbed it. We put the necklace, beads, and paints in a simple wooden box. She smiled and opened the box and got a look of confusion as she set it down on a table where everyone could see. Everyone got looks of confusion and I chuckled. 

“The bag Zoey, the real gift is in the bag.” I said pointing to it and she opened it and pulled the necklace out. She looked at us four with a confused look. We all couldn’t help but chuckle as we all pulled our own necklaces.

“Now you have your very own Camp Half-Blood necklace.” Annabeth said with a smile Zoey immediately looked at it again. 

“The one big difference is that with this necklace each bead represents a big moment as your time of being the hero.” Nico explained and everyone gasped as they all tried to see the beads.

Will then cleared his throat and everyone looked at him, “The first bead is the triple moon of Nyx representing you becoming the leader of the dark daughters. The second bead is a pentacle with the colors of each element representing the discovery of your circle's affinities,” Then he brought his voice in a lower tone. “And that you found out the truth behind Neferet.” 

Zoey immediately turned to Erik and he smiled helping her put it on. “This is amazing- I can’t believe you guys decided to do this.” We all smiled at her and put our necklaces back to where they were hidden.” 

“Alright, I’m hoping in, so that I can have my moment of glory now.” Erik said, grabbing his gift and handing it to her. It was silver and gold wrapped and had a sticker placed in the middle of it. 

Zoey gasped so I assumed it was probably an expensive gift. “It’s from Moody’s!” 

“I hope you like it,” Erik said with a sweet smile. 

Zoey immediately went to open her present smiling, once she got the paper off she ran her hand over the black velvet box. She then gasped when she opened the box pulling out a pearl necklace. The pearls looked a bit off, but then I realized a couple of them were shaped to be snowmen. I bet Erik started the snowman theme.

Zoey ran her hands along the snowmen pearls and smiled a bit, “Normally, I’m not a fan of winter themed gifts,” She said absently chuckling. “But you guys have all given me gifts I’ve never gotten before, or the winter theme is minimal enough that it’s not so much a christmas-birthday gift.” She looked directly at Erik, “Thank you, now help me put on your gift.” She said which caused everyone to smile at her.

Zoey went to grab one of our gifts when Aphrodite walked into the room. The room went silent as Aphrodite walked in holding a box with a letter taped to the top of it. Aphrodite sighed and stayed where she was, “Mail was dropped off while you guys were in here, and they also got the room number wrong.” Annabeth then walked over to Aphrodite and whispered something to her, to which Aphrodite shook her head. Annabeth grabbed the box before Aphrodite left the room. 

“What did you tell- ask her?” I asked and everyone looked just as confused. 

“I asked her if, with along with the wrong mail, any letters were sent addressed to me.” Annabeth explained putting the box down. “Sadly no. But, I think this is from your ex-boyfriend Zoey, the return address name is just Luck.” 

Zoey nodded, “Alright. I’ll open it when I get back to my dorm.” She then chuckled a bit. “My guess it’s something sentimental from a trip he was on- or something like that.” 

“Something not christmassy?” Erik asked with a chuckle and Zoey actually nodded and frowned.

“For the longest time I despised anything to do with Christmas on my birthday,” She started to explain and everyone looked upset. “I even told Stevie Rae that I hated christmas stuff, because everyone always used it as an excuse to mash the gifts together. I never got birthday presents and christmas presents, it was always the same gift.” 

“Z, I didn’t even think about that.” Erik said and Damien looked at me with a look that said,  _ you were right _ , I just gave him an encouraging smile. 

“It’s okay, I really do love the gifts, and they aren’t too christmasy themed that usually means, ‘your birthday is a convenience to my wallet and that’s all I care about, not what you really want’. Instead it tells me you guys really just wanted to give me special gifts for someone born on the twenty-fourth of December.” Zoey said then made us all get into a group hug and we all smiled. 

“We’ll, I think I should let you know my gift is home made and my gift can also be seen as kinda christmassy.” I said which caused everyone to laugh.

“Let me open it!” Zoey said with a big smile on her face and Annabeth handed her the bag with my gift in it. Zoey took out the wrapping paper and she smiled when she pulled out the blanket. 

“Oh so that’s why you never gave me a straight answer for who it was for.” Damien said, causing everyone to laugh really hard.

Zoey put it back in the bag and she thanked me before moving on to the rest of the gifts. We all enjoyed this moment of peace together and Zoey enjoyed her gifts from us all. When it was all over we all worked to bring Zoey back her gifts to her room. She immediately placed her new boots in her closet, her scarf on the coat rack, and Jack helped her find a place for her snow globe. Annabeth then placed the books Annabeth got her on her shelf as Nico and Will both set the brackets they got her on her vanity. The boys and I left so that Shaunee, Erin, and Annabeth could Zoey look amazing for her birthday meeting with her Grandma. While they dressed her up the rest of us decided to help Jack and Erik clean up their dorm room.


	2. Operation Stevie Rae

As Zoey was having lunch with her Grandma, I promised her that Will, Nico, Annabeth, and I would continue to research what might have happened to Stevie Rae. So we were in Nico and Will’s dorm book all around, notebooks and pens on the bed. We all were taking a break, as the dyslexia made it hard for us to read for long periods of time, and our ADHD made it hard to keep on task. I always wondered how Annabeth was able to do it during the two wars when she made her battle plans. 

As we almost went back to working we all got a mass text in the group catch Zoey set up to keep us all updated. 

Z-bird: Just saw Stevie Rae, bribed her with a pair of Rope jeans, cowboy boots, and a nice tuck-in shirt crisply ironed. Also a blood source that wasn’t street people. I need help in getting that stuff. I’m meeting her tomorrow at three am. I said I would be alone.

Water Girl: We’re on the clothes Z!

Fire Girl: In fact we are heading out now! 

Encyclopedia: Me and Jack will head out with Shaunee and Erin, we’ll get more then one outfit for her. I’m also going to make a guess and say she needs some soap.

Jack Twist: And, we're going to need a nice bag for all of this stuff.

Me: Me and Annabeth will head to Dragon and Anastasia and see if they could get us the blood, and catch them up on everything.

Z-bird: Thank you, really this means a lot.

I looked at Annabeth and she immediately stood and looked at Will and Nico. “Will you guys be okay with continuing this on your own?” She asked them and they both shook their heads.

“Not at all, you guys just get that blood so our friend can have her food.” Will said picking up mine and Annabeth’s notes. “Your handwriting has gotten so much better because of this Percy.” Will said as Annabeth pulled me out the door. 

We walked to the Teachers living quarters talking about our last christmas together with my mom, step-dad, her dad, step-mom and little brothers. We both smiled and laughed as we reminisced on the pranks her brothers pulled on me. I held onto her hand tightly and pulled her closer to me once we got closer to Dragon and Anastasia's place. As we walked up the stairs I saw Loren Blake walk down and we shared a look with each other. I shook my head as a bad feeling swept over me. Annabeth looked at me and I smiled trying to reassure her but her tighter grip told me that it didn’t work. 

I knocked on the door and smiled when I heard the chuckles of Dragon and Anastasia inside. When he opened the door and saw both of us, he just nodded and let us in. Anastia gave us both a kind smile as Dragon offered us to sit down.

“As much as you know I would love a friendly visit, with the state of things, I can help but realize this isn’t a friendly visit.” Dragon said sitting down looking at us. “Especially not after your last adventure involving the  _ standing  _ high priest here.” When Dragon said the last sentence I couldn’t help but smile, after telling him and Anastasia what happened that night he immediately asked his father about protecting his and Annastia’s mind. 

“You’re right Dragon,” I said, keeping my smile. “We aren’t here just to chat, but, we do have some good news- depending on how you look at it.” 

Both of them looked curious at both of us as Annabeth took out her phone and showed Dragon and Anastasia our latest messages. Anastasia looked at Annabeth and smiled. “I expect our demigod crew is working hard to find out how N. was able to do this?”

“Yes, Anastasia,” Annabeth said and smiled. “We now are waiting for Chiron to send us anything he finds, and Will and Nico are continuing their search for anything out of the books our friends Ella, Reyna, and Tyson sent us from Camp Jupiter.” 

Dragon nodded with a smile on his face and sighed, “When does Zoey need to have the blood by?” 

“Before three am tomorrow.” I explained and he nodded getting up. 

“Tomorrow I’ll send a box to your dorm and then you can handle what happens after that,” Dragon said looking at Annabeth. “I’m sure your group of friends has a plan on how you guys are getting everything to Zoey?” 

“That we do.” Annabeth said then as if we were on a timer we both stood up. “Thank you for helping us.”

“Of course, you both are our fledglings. We’ll always be here to help you.” Anastasia said as she and Dragon showed us out. 

Once we were far away from the teachers quarters, we decided to then walk around campus for a bit just spending some time alone together. Annabeth talked about how ever since she was marked her step-mom had decided to keep in contact with her more, and how her dad sends her a weekly letter. I talked about how my mom and Paul call once a week so that I can keep them updated and my mom can give me updates on her writing and Estelle. 

We both then realized we got to the parking lot and saw the Twins, Damien, and Jack parking their car. We walked over to them then started to help them with their bags. 

“So weren’t you on the food duty?” Erin asked me and everyone chuckled.

“Yes, and we got it covered.” I said with a smirk which caused Erin to laugh a bit. “Really, we do, Dragon and Anastasia are sending us some tomorrow.”

We all got back into the dorms and headed to Shaunee’s and Erins so that the Twins could pack the book bag Jack had picked out. Annabeth decided to help the Twins while Damien, Jack, and I started to head over to Nico and Will’s Dorm. When we got into the hall way of the boys dorm, Zoey sent out another text for us all.

Z-Bird: Hey, meet me and Erik in the “Library”

I looked at Damien and Jack, they just smiled as we went and collected Will and Nico. We all chuckled a bit wondering what was up with this impromptu meeting with Zoey and Erik. We got into the Library and sat down talking and I answered questions Jack had about being a demigod. Sometimes I forget that he wasn’t aware of it for so long. 

It didn’t take long until Erik and Zoey caught up to us and she and Erik looked really annoyed. I raised my eyebrow at her and she gave me a look then mouth the name  _ Loren Blake _ . I griminced and then cleared my throat. “So, what happened?” 

Zoey shook her head as they both sat down. “He openly flirts with me,” She said, frowning as Erik protectively put his arm around her. “And when I was alone as Erik went to grab something from his dorm, he gave me an incredibly expensive gift- and why he’s back today is apparently me.” 

Shaunee and Erin frowned and Annabeth looked at me like she wanted to murder Loren. That’s when Will spoke up, “How flirty is this teacher with you Zoey?” 

“He likes to trace my marks, quote romantic poems, and then straight up told me he was ‘enraptured’ by me.” Zoey said and Erik frowned.

“And he’s what- 21?” Nico asked, looking like he was planning Loren’s Death.

“Somewhere around there.” Erik said through his teeth. 

I kept quiet as Zoey and Erik ranted about this situation, one thing kept swimming in my mind.  _ He had to be trying to get something from her _ . What that ‘something’ is, well, I didn’t know. I did have a nagging feeling that he was working for Neferet, but I had no proof, nor did I really have anything to base this feeling on. Except that sense basically the first time he met Zoey, he has been weirdly invested in her. Always being nice, and interested in the special fledgling that Zoey was. 

I kept going back to Luke and how he interacted with me, how he interacted with Annabeth, anyone who went to camp during that time. I felt my blood boil as I kept looking at the similarities between the two men. I guess my own anger was radiating off of me because Annabeth placed her hand on my arm and I looked at her. 

“Percy, are you okay?” She asked me and everyone looked at me. 

“I-” I started to speak then sighed, shaking my head. “No- no I am not. Nothing about this situation, since it’s started, has ever made me feel suspicious. No teacher- no matter how young- should be giving a student- no matter how special- the type of attention he is giving you.” I said and put my head into my hands. 

Annabeth then rubbed my back and I heard her speak, continuing my thought. “Professor Blake definitely has a motive behind his actions other than ‘this fledgling hot and I’m kinda close to her age’. What if Neferet has been putting him up to this?” 

That’s when everyone went quiet and they all had a sense of and Nico looked up like he realized something. “You don’t think Neferet is hoping Zoey will be- well- week and go for Loren while she is dating Erik, do you?” 

I sighed and shrugged, “It’s a possibility, Zoey has already made it clear she no longer is fooled by her facade.” I then looked back up and took a deep breath. “I think it’s safe to say, Zoey tries to have someone with her so Loren doesn’t sneak up on her. But- we should also be focusing on Stevie Rae.” 

Zoey then chuckled a bit to relive the tension that this discussion caused. “I’m hoping you all have everything?” 

“I’ll get you the  _ food _ by tomorrow before you leave to meet her.” I said and she nodded smiling. “The twins and Annabeth took care of the bag of supplies.” 

Erin smiled and then looked at Zoey, “It’s in our dorm room. We’ll give it to you whenever you need it.”

And so that’s how our conversation went on, we all decided to discuss Zoey’s plan on where she is going to meet Stevie Rae, and what she was planning to say to her. Truthfully we all had hope we could help her get her humanity back. She had a connection to the earth, and we all supported her.Damien and Annabeth both had some theories on why Stevie Rae still seemed to be the same- had a bit of her personality still while the other fledglings were more monstrous. Everyone was discussing the theories and Will and Nico brought back to the notes we had taken whenever it related to any of the theories. 

We almost forgot that another ritual was on the agenda for this weekend. A ritual and a movie.


	3. Ritual Plans and Practice

Soon it was Saturday and everyone was a little excited. We couldn’t wait to hear how everything would go with Stevie Rae, but we also had a ritual to plan. We all were huddled around the TV area waiting for Zoey to arrive, this evening me and Damien made a quick delivery to Zoey. Dragon and Anastia kept their word and a box full of blood was at our door when we woke up. So we made the box look like it was mailed to Zoey and slipped the note explaining what the box was under her door. 

We all were a bit more awake then usual because of it all. The excitement caused us all to forget that Saturdays were lazy days. I kept close to Annabeth and noticed how Zoey came into the commons area with a bit more pep in her step. She walked over to us all and smiled at me and Damien. 

“First of all, great plan you two.” She said and we both chuckled at her statement. “Second, I need to go to the library for some last minute ritual preparations. Can you guys meet me at the oak tree at-” She tilted her head a bit as if she was solving a math problem using mental math. “Seven fifteen? I should be done by then.” 

“You got it, High Priest.” Erin said, causing everyone to chuckle a bit.

“Can I ask why we are meeting?” Damien asked and Zoey looked surprised. 

“Oh, we need to figure out who is, well, replacing Stevie Rae as Earth.” Zoey explained and we all nodded. At that point I think we all forgot that even if Stevie Rae is alive, she can’t be in Zoey’s circle, yet. “I already have a couple ideas, but I think we should go over them as a group.” 

We nodded and Erik smiled a bit, “Do you want me to keep you company, Z? In case there are folks who want to bother you while you work?” 

Zoey smiled at him and nodded, “I think that’s a great idea.” 

The two of them then walked to the library talking to one another and I couldn’t help but notice how in love the two of them looked. I smiled and noticed that since Erik moved Anabeth moved to where her head was in my lao and she was laying down on the rest of the couch. I smiled and played with her hair before Damien spoke up. 

“I doubt Zoey and Erik are going to wait to disgust the possible people to represent Earth, so I say I nominate Nico.” Damien said which caused Nico to look at him surprised. 

“Me? Why?” Was what Nico said and Annabeth chuckled a bit. 

“You are the son of the god of the Underworld, and precious metal, I think you would be a great contenter to represent Earth.” Damien explained that Erin spoke up.

“Not to toot my own horn, but I decided to read up on greek mythology in my free time, and isn’t Poseidon the god of earthquakes as well as the sea?” Erin said, causing everyone to be surprised. 

So I knew I had to speak up, “You guys don’t want me representing Earth. I once blew up Mount Saint Hellen, and my bloody noise caused Gaia to rise up again. I think Nico should be our guy.” 

Then Annabeth spoke up smiling, “But- you are correct, Erin. Poseidon is the god of earthquakes and the sea.” 

We continued to talk about greek mythology while Damien and Jack- I wasn’t aware that Jack was into greek mythology- asked us questions about our journeys. It was nice to have a group of friends who may have not experienced the same things as we did, but still were invested in our lives and how we got here. It was cathartic almost, because they understood being a demigod isn’t what it’s all cracked up to be. It’s dangerous and can get you killed. You are trained to be a hero since you are twelve (seven for Annabeth and ten for Nico and Will) years old. You constantly have to fight for your lives, having a normal life is a blessing and a luxury. Hell, the only reason monsters haven't come searching for us in the three months we have lived here is because our DNA has changed to mask our demigod scent. We no longer smell like a McDonald's hamburger to monsters. We just smell like just ‘normal’ mortals to them. Yes, everything was good here, even with Zoey’s hero journey happening at the same time. 

Honestly, I’m glad we are here to help Zoey, and I am glad she trusts me to take into consideration the advice I have for her. I just only wish I had more answers for her, I feel like I’m guiding Zoey through the dark with nothing but a dollar store headlamp. I sometimes wondered if this is what Chiron felt whenever I asked him for advice. If he felt this way during my quests. 

And suddenly I was brought from my thoughts when I heard Annabeth say my name. I looked at her and she chuckled. 

“Percy, are you alright, you were spacing out.” Annabeth said sitting up looking at me. 

“Yeah, hey do you think Chiron felt lost when we did our quests? Like he was guiding us through the dark with nothing but a dollar store headlamp?” 

That’s when everyone started to chuckle but then Will spoke up, “I bet he felt that way with you- I’m guessing that’s how you feel with Nyx having you guide Zoey?” 

“Yeah, just a little.” I said and we all chuckled and I sighed. “It’s just, yeah I have experience with being a hero, sure. But I don’t have experience dealing with  _ any  _ of this. It’s as new to me as it is to Zoey.” 

“That has to be frustrating.” Shaunee said sympathetically but smiled. “But hey, You have all of us, and Zoey does as well. We can help her just as much as you can.” 

I smiled and Shaunee and nodded then Jack spoke up, “Yeah! Not to mention things might come along that relates to what you know, so that’s maybe why Nyx chose you to be her mentor.” 

Annabeth then leans against me and I felt her smile, “We all are here to help Zoey, it’s up to all of us to help her become the hero Nyx sees her becoming.” 

I smiled and held her close, worry lifting off of me. I was about to speak when Damien spoke up, “I hate to break the mood, but It’s getting close to seven fifteen. We should probably head to the tree, and something is telling me that we need to get the candles.” 

“Right you are Damien.” Erin said and we all laughed as we stood up. 

We all got ready to face the winter air and walked to the temple of Nyx to grab the candles and I noticed how Jack had grabbed the fireplace matches form the commons. I then walked over to Stevie Rae’s candle at the base of the statue of Nyx and closed my eyes praying that Nyx will keep her safe and help her retain her humanity. I then felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Shaunee next to me with a kind smile before kneeling down and lighting the candle with her affinity for fire. 

We all smiled and walked in silence to the big oak tree. No doubt everyone has Stevie Rae on their mind. Even if she was alive it was hard to get out our mind the worry everyone had for her safety. I mean sure it had been a month and Zoey saw her once again, but we knew nothing about what she had become. It was nerve wracking to think about what might happen to her. 

Once we got to the tree Damien and Erin started to put the candles into the order of where they are supposed to be and we all waited around for Zoey and Erik to arrive. Me and Annabeth hung out near the tree with Nico and Will as the others started to talk about the movie we all were seeing after this. Honestly I was just happy we all were being a normal group of friends again after us making a care package for our “supposed to be dead” friend yesterday. Then I saw Zoey and Erik walk up to us chuckling and laughing as they got to the tree. 

“Wow, you guys got everything ready?” Zoey said looking at the candles and the fireplace matches Jack was holding.

“Yep!” We all said in a chorus and Zoey looked at me and smiled, “So Erik and I were talking in the library as I did some research. We think you should represent earth, Percy.” 

My eyes went wide and I looked at her, “What, why?” I asked her, clearly surprised and everyone chuckled. First it was Erin who completely changed everyone's mind about Nico, now it was Zoey and Erik.

“Because Erik told me you were the one to ask earth to come and ease Stevie Rae through her death. So the fact you already have a connection would be the best course of action.” Zoey explained and I frowned because she was right. 

“I see where you are coming from.” I said but for some reason there was this nagging feeling that I was not the guy for the job. “But unless everyone agrees to it, I won't step in.” I said and Zoey nodded looking at everyone. 

To my dismay, there was a unanimous chorus of I agree that went through the group. Even with the feeling I had I sighed and got into the position for Earth picking up the candle. Everyone smiled as the rest of the circle got into position. I looked around a bit and Zoey started to explain her plan for the ritual. 

“You guys will be out in the circle in your appropriate places with the rest of the Dark Daughters and Sons. Then Jack is going to key the music and I'll come in, just like I did last month.” Zoey said and then looked at Erik. “And Erik here has offered to recite a poem of his choosing as I walk out.” 

Shaunee smiled then shook her head, “It’s a damn shame that the poet lit has turned out to be someone we can’t trust.”

“It’s always the hot ones twin. Uh, no offence Erik.” Erin said, agreeing with Shaunee and looking at Erik.

“None taken.” Erik said chuckling as Zoey shook her head.

“Okay guys, one last thing before we cast this circle.” Zoey said looking at all of us as she held a match in her hand. “Damien, did you handle the food like I asked?” 

Damien nodded as he picked up the air candle. “Yep, the chef is back from her winter vacation, and she and I decided on the menu yesterday. We're having chili about a zillion different ways. And," he added in a voice that said he had a big surprise for us all, "we're also having imported beer.” 

“Sounds good.” Zoey said with a smile. Yeah I know it sounds weird that teens are having alcohol at school events. Trust me, I am still processing that as well. The facts are that alcohol doesn’t affect us. The biological changes that are happening in our bodies causes us to not be affected by alcohol. 

“Zoey, are you announcing who you are tapping for the Prefect Council this coming year?” Will asked and that’s what caught Zoey off guard. 

“Yes, yes I am. I don’t have set names, but I’m sure we all can go over names later tonight.” Zoey said and I gave her an encouraging smile. 

“Take all the time you need Z-bird.” I said and she smiled nodding. 

"All right. Let's practice the circle casting." Zoey said as she approached Damien. She took out one long, slender match and struck it against the sandpapery bottom of the cylinder. She lit the match and said, "I call air to our circle. We breathe it in without first breaths, so it is only right that it be the first element called. Come to us, air!" She touched the match to the yellow candle Damien held and it lit, and it stayed lit, even in the wildly gusting wind that whirled around Damien and Zoey like they were in the center of a tamed but playful mini-tornado. Zoey then moved clockwise, or deosil, around the circle to Shaunee and her red candle. "Fire warms us with its passionate flame. I call fire to our circle!" As usual, Zoey barely had to touch the lit match to Shaunee's candle. It instantly combusted, licking light and warmth against our skins.

"I couldn't be hotter if I was on fire," Shaunee said.

"Well, Nyx sure gave you the right element," Zoey told her before walking over to Erin, who was practically vibrating with excitement. "Water is a perfect balance to flame, just as Erin is a perfect Twin for Shaunee. I call water to our circle!" She touched the match to the blue candle and I instantly smelt the scents and sounds of the sea. 

"I do love me some water," Erin said happily.

Then I drew a deep, fortifying breath, made sure I was calm as I held the candle that represents earth as Zoey walked over to me. 

"Are you ready?" Zoey asked me with a kind smile.

I nodded making a smile come onto my face. "Yes. I'm ready." 

Zoey lifted the still burning match and then dropped the match that she accidently let burn too long and scorched her fingers. She looked sheepishly at us all. "Sorry, guys."

We all just shrugged off Zoey’s dorkishness good-naturedly. I could tell she was sending out a silent plea to Nyx, so I did the same. When She looked at me I gave her a smile of encouragement.

"Earth supports us and nurtures us. As the fourth element I call earth to our circle!" As Zoey touched the match to the candle wick, it felt as electricity ran through the candle itself. I held back a scream of pain as I accidentally tossed the candle out of my hand. I rubbed my hands and didn’t pay any mind to Zoey who was asking me if I was okay because I heard a string of cussing coming from the darkness as if someone who was very pissed off, was heading our way.

"Dammit! Ouch! Shit! What the-"

Aphrodite emerged from the shadows holding the unlit green candle and rubbing a red mark on her forehead that was already beginning to swell.

"Oh, wonderful. I should have fucking figured. I'm told to come out here in the wilderness all surrounded by nature, and what do I find besides insects and dirt? The nerd herd throwing shit at me," she said.

"I only wish we'd thought of it," Erin said sweetly. “Percy got to it first.”

"Aphrodite, you are a hateful hag from hell," Shaunee said just as sweetly.

"Dorks, don't talk to me."

Ignoring their bickering, and the throbbing pain in my hands, I said, "Who told you to come out here?" 

Aphrodite met my eyes and her gaze actually turned softer. "Nyx," she said.

"Please!"

"Whatever!"

"Not likely!"

Damien and the Twins all shouted together. I noticed that Erik, Jack, Nico, Will, and Annabeth were keeping silent. Thank the gods I was about to speak when Zoey decided too. 

She held up her hand. "Enough!" She snapped and they shut up. "Why did Nyx tell you to come out here?” She asked Aphrodite.

Aphrodite walked up to me still holding the candle, "Move out of the way, I know you knew you weren’t meant to be here." Surprising everyone I nodded and stepped out of the way and walked over to Will you inspected my hands. Aphrodite then looked at Zoey holding her head up high. "Call earth and light it, and you'll see," Aphrodite said. 

Before anyone could protest Zoey nodded and went with what Aphrodite told her. "Earth supports us and nurtures us. As the fourth element I call earth to our circle!" She repeated and then touched her newly lit match to the green candle. It flamed instantly, surrounding Aphrodite and Zoey in the scents and sounds of a lush meadow at full bloom in the middle of summer. 

Aphrodite spoke calmly not taking her gaze off of Zoey. “Nyx decided I needed more shit in my already crap-filled life. So now I have an affinity for earth. Ironic enough for you?"


	4. Aphrodite's Redemption

"Oh, no damn way!" Shaunee shouted.

"Ditto, Twin! Only no fucking damn way!" Erin said.

"I can't believe this is right," Damien said.

"Believe it," Zoey said, her back still to the rest of the circle as she continued to stare at Aphrodite. Before our friends could freak out any more she added, "Look at the circle." I hadn't needed to look at it. I already knew what I'd see, and their gasps told me I was right. Still, I looked down slowly, awed anew by the beauty of the powerful thread of goddess-given light that bound the four of them together. "She's telling the truth. Nyx sent her out here. Aphrodite has an affinity for earth."

Shocked into silence, our friends just stared as Zoey moved to the center of the circle and picked up the purple candle. “Spirit is what makes us unique, what gives us courage and strength, and it is what lives on after our bodies are no more. Come to me, spirit!” Zoey walked around the circle, meeting our friends' confused, upset gazes, trying to help them understand something she didn't really get herself, but what she (and I) could feel was, indeed, Nyx's will. 

"I don't pretend to understand Nyx. The Goddess's ways are mysterious and sometimes she asks really hard things of us. This is one of those hard things. Like it or not, Nyx has made it clear that Aphrodite should take Stevie Rae's place in our circle." She looked at Aphrodite. "I don't think she's exactly thrilled about it."

"That’s one way of putting it," Aphrodite mumbled.

Zoey continued. "But we have a choice. Nyx doesn't force our will. We need to be in agreement about letting Aphrodite in, or-" Zoey hesitated, I knew exactly what she was thinking about. My hands still stung from Nyx making a show that it wasn’t me who should be representing Earth. Zoey looked at me then back to the rest of the group and continued. "Or I guess we can start trying a bunch of different kids and seeing if any of them are allowed to manifest earth. But I don't think Percy's the issue." 

"I think we have to do what Nyx wants us to do. Even if we don't like it," Damien said.

"Shaunee?" Zoey turned to her. "What's your vote?"

Shaunee and Erin shared a look and I swear, weird as it sounds, I could almost see words pass in the air between them.

"We'll let the hag join the circle," Shaunee said.

"But only because Nyx wants it," Erin said.

"Yeah, but we want to go on the record as saying we totally do not understand what Nyx is up to," Shaunee added, while Erin nodded in agreement.

"Do they get to keep calling me a hag?" Aphrodite said.

"Are you breathing?" Shaunee asked.

"Then if you're breathing you're still a hag," Erin said.

"Which is what we call you," Shaunee finished.

"No," Zoey said firmly. The Twins turned their glares on me. "You guys don't have to like her. You don't even have to like that Nyx wants her here. But if we accept Aphrodite, then we accept her. That means the name-calling has to stop." The Twins sucked air, obviously getting ready to argue with Zoey, but she carried on, "Look inside yourselves, especially right now when you have manifested your element. What is your conscience telling you?"

The Twins paused.

"Yeah, okay," Erin said unhappily.

"We see your point. We just don't like it," Shaunee said.

"And what about her? So we stop calling her a hag and such, but she still gets to act like one?" Erin said.

"Now Erin has a point," Damien said.

I looked over at Aphrodite. By her expression she was bored, but I could see that she kept taking big gulps of air, like she couldn't get enough of smelling the meadow earth had manifested around her. Every once in a while I noticed that she trailed her fingers down around her as if she was letting them brush through tall, fragrant grasses. I also noticed how her hand touched her right arm ever so often.

"Aphrodite's going to do the same thing the two of you just did. She's going to search her conscience and then do the right thing." Zoey explained and everyone looked at Aphrodite.

Aphrodite looked surprised and then looked at the candle in her hands, “Look, Nyx has chosen me to be earth. So I’ll be earth. Honestly I’ve never once wanted more then anything to just make- or not make the change and leave.” Aphrodite said which caused the entire group to go still. She set the candle down respectfully and rolled up her sleeves so the others could see her mark. “I have so much shit I still need to figure out about myself and now I’m being forced to be around people I’ve hurt. So I’ll play nice.” 

Before anyone could even mention the fact that Aphrodite was vulnerable with us Zoey worked counter clockwise closing the circle. Aphrodite held onto the candle for a bit longer and I swore I saw a tear start to come down her face. But she shook her head giving the candle to Zoey before quickly hurrying off.

"Come on, we have time to go down to the IHOP for something to eat before the movie starts," Damien said, and the whole group of them completely ignored Aphrodite as they walked away, chattering among themselves about how fine the Spartans are and how this time when they watch 300 they're going to keep track of how many vamp actors are in it.

I sighed knowing that in good conciones I couldn’t just leave Aphrodite alone like this. Annabeth put a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. “Not joining us for pancakes?”

“Not today wise girl. I think I need to talk with your roommate.” I said and she nodded and quickly joined the group and I left to follow Aphrodite. 

I could hear the sounds of annoyance coming off of our friends as I tried to catch up to Aphrodite. I noticed how her steps actually slowed as we were far enough away from everything.

"My visions have been changing.” She said not looking at me, but continuing walking as she pulled her sleeves down again. “It started with the one I had when those human kids were being killed. I used to be able to see things like I was just an observer. I watched what was happening but wasn't touched by it. Everything and everyone was clear, easy to understand. With those boys it was different. I wasn't detached anymore. I was one of them. I could feel myself being killed with them." She paused and shuddered. "I also couldn't see things clearly anymore. Stuff becomes a big jumble of fear and panic and crazy emotions. I get some flashes of things I can identify or understand, like when I told you and Zoey that you had to get Heath out of those tunnels or he'd die. But mostly I'm freaked and confused, and afterward I feel awful." Aphrodite glanced at me as if she was just then remembering I was really there. "Like it was with the vision I saw of Zoey’s grandma drowning. I actually was her grandma, and it was just lucky that I caught glimpses of the bridge and knew where she'd go into the water."

I nodded, "I remember you couldn't tell us very much. I thought it was more because you didn't want to tell Zoey than that you couldn't tell me."

Her smile was sarcastic. "Yes, I know. Not that I care what you thought.” She then looked directly at me. “But I had a vision about Stevie Rae."

I nodded at her and we made our way to a bench sitting down so she could continue on what she saw- or experienced. 

"I haven't had a vision for a month. Good thing, too, since my parents insist I visit during winter break. Often." Her grimace said that visiting her parents wasn't exactly a good thing, which I could understand. I placed my hand on her shoulder and she smiled a bit, but then her expression changed and her voice went low. "I saw vampyres being killed. Horribly." Aphrodite had to pause to swallow, like she was trying hard not to throw up.

"By Stevie Rae?" I squeaked.

"No. That was a different vision."

"Okay, I'm confused."

"Try having the damn visions, or at least these new visions I've been having. Confusion is what they're all about. And pain. And fear. They completely suck."

"So Stevie Rae wasn't in the one where the vampyres died?"

She shook her head. "No, but the two felt like they went together." Aphrodite sighed. "I saw Stevie Rae. She was horrible. Real dirty and thin and her eyes glowed a weird red. And you wouldn't believe what she was wearing. I mean, not that she was ever Miss Fashion Sense, but still."

"Okay, so you saw her undead."

"That's what she is, isn't it. She's turned into some kind of horrible vampyre clich??, the monster humans have been calling us for centuries."

"Not all humans. You know, you really need to get over your completely crappy attitude about humans. You used to be one," I said.

"Yeah, I know. It’s just hard to get out of old habits.” She said, shaking her head and taking a deep breath in.

"Anyway, I saw Stevie Rae when she died. Again. This time for real. And I knew if the vision was allowed to come true that it would somehow mean all of the vamp deaths I saw would really happen. So we have to figure out a way to save Stevie Rae because Nyx is seriously not happy about a bunch of vamps being killed."

"How did Stevie Rae die?"

"Neferet killed her. She pulled Stevie Rae out into the direct sunlight and she burned up."

"Crap. Then she really can't go out in the sunlight," I said.

"You didn't already know that?" Aphrodite said.

"Stevie Rae hasn't been exactly easy to talk to since she, well, died."

"But you have seen her and talked to her?”

I stopped walking and stood in front of Aphrodite so that she had to face me. "Look, you can't tell anyone about Stevie Rae. But  _ I  _ didn’t see her. Zoey did.”

“I know, look I already know if anyone besides us knows about Stevie Rae, Neferet will know. She's bound to since she can practically read everyone's mind. Well, except us that is."

"She can't read your mind, either?"

Aphrodite gave me a regretful look and a forced smile. “She never has been able to. How do you think I got away with so much crap for so long?"

"Okay, so Zoey has our minds protected by the elements, so that we could tell the rest of the herd. So tell me why is it you can only talk with me and Annabeth?” 

She got a look of surprise on her face and looked away. “You guys are the first people to reach out to me with helping me be a better person in mind. I have a lot to make up for, but you guys make it seem like there are still people who care about me.” 

“Who exactly do you have to make up to?” I asked and she got a sad look on her face.

"To Nyx." She looked away from me. "Zoey probably won't get this, being all-powerful with new gifts from Nyx and basically Miss Perfect, but once you've had your gifts for a while, you might find out that it's not always easy to do the right thing. Other things-people-get in the way. You'll make mistakes." Aphrodite scoffed. "Well, maybe Zoey won't. But I did. I might not particularly give a shit about you or Stevie Rae or maybe anyone here at school, but I do care about Nyx." Her voice faltered. "I know what it's like to believe the goddess has turned from me and I don't ever want to feel like that again." 

I reached out and touched her arm. "But Nyx didn't turn from you. Those were just lies Neferet told so that no one would believe your visions. You know Neferet's behind what Stevie Rae's turned into, don't you?"

"I've known since the vision, when I saw Heath dying." She forced a little laugh. "Good thing she can't read our minds. I don't know what she'd do to a fledgling who knows how awful she is."

"She knows I know."

"You've got to be kidding!"

"Well, she knows I'm on to her." I hesitated, and then figured, what the hell. Weirdly enough, it was turning out that Aphrodite was the one person (besides Annabeth, Will, and Nico) on this earth I could really talk to. "Neferet tried to erase mine and Zoey’s memory of the night we saved Heath from those undead dead kids. It worked for a while, but we knew right away something was wrong. Zoey used the power of the elements to heal our memory, and, well, Zoey kinda let Neferet know that We remembered what had happened."

"Zoey kinda let her know?"

“Well, she threatened us. Said no one would believe me if we said anything about her. And, uh, it made Zoey mad. So Zoey told her that it didn't matter if no vamp or fledgling believed us, because Nyx does.” 

Aphrodite smiled. "I'll bet that pissed her off."

"Yeah, I suppose it did." Actually it made me a little sick to think about just how pissed Neferet probably was. "But she left right after that for winter break. I haven't seen her since."

"She'll be back soon."

"I know."

"Are you scared?" Aphrodite asked.

"Yeah, more so for everyone else than myself. But yeah. I am scared," I said.

"I don't blame you there. Okay, here's what I know for sure from my visions. We have to get Stevie Rae someplace safe and away from the rest of those things. And we have to do it now. Before Neferet comes back. There's some connection between the two of them. I don't understand it, but I know it's there, and I know it's wrong." Aphrodite made a face like she'd just tasted something nasty. "Actually the whole undead-dead monster thing is all wrong. Talk about disgusting creatures."

"Stevie Rae's different from the rest of them."

Aphrodite gave me a look that said she definitely didn't believe me.

"Think about it. Why would Nyx have given a fledgling such a powerful gift as an affinity for earth and then let her die. And then un-die." I paused, struggling with how to make her understand. "I think her connection to earth is the reason Stevie Rae has kept some of her humanity, and I really believe that if I-I mean we, if we can help her she'll find the rest of her humanity. Or maybe we'll find a way to heal her. To turn her back into a fledgling or maybe even a grown-up vamp. And maybe if Stevie Rae is fixed, that means there's a chance for the rest of them, too."

"So do you have a clue how we're going to fix her?"

"Nope. Not one clue." Then I grinned. "But now I have a powerful fledgling with visions and an earth affinity helping me, as well as my Nerd Herd."

"Great. That makes me feel so much better. Anyway," Aphrodite was saying, "how are we going to find Stevie Rae?" She curled her lip. "Do not tell me you expect me to crawl around nasty tunnels with you."

"Actually, Stevie Rae said she'd meet Zoey at the Philbrook gazebo tonight at about three o'clock."

"Is she going to show?"

“Zoey bribed her with country clothes, so I think so." 

Aphrodite shook her head. "So she dies, un-dies, and still has a shitty fashion sense."

"Apparently."

"Now that's really sad. So, where is Zoey taking her after you give her the clothes?" 

"I don't know. I haven't really disgusted the logistics about Operation Stevie Rae with Zoey. I just helped get the blood.”

"Blood!"

"She has to have it. Human blood. Or she goes crazy."

"Isn't she already pretty much crazy?"

"No! She's just dealing with issues."

"Issues?"

"Lots of issues," I said firmly.

"Okay. Whatever. Zoey’s gotta decide where she's going to take her. She can't stay with the rest of those things. That won't help her," Aphrodite said.

"What if Zoey brings her here? She should be pretty easy to hide while the vamps are gone.”

"Zoey can't bring her back here." Aphrodite had gone pale. "This is where I saw her die. Again."

"Crap! Then I don't know what the hell we are going to do," I admitted.

"I suppose Zoey could take her to my old place," Aphrodite said.

"Yeah, right, because your parents are so understanding and all. That sounds like a great idea.” I said pointing out the flaw in her plan. 

She rolled her eyes. "My parents are gone. They left early this morning for three weeks skiing in Breckenridge. Plus, she won't be staying inside the house. My parents live in one of those old oil mansions right down the street from the Philbrook. They have a garage apartment that used to be a servants' quarters back in the day. It's not used anymore except when my grandma comes to visit, and my mom just stuck her in one of those high-class, high-security, high-dollar nursing homes, so you and Zoey don't need to worry about that. Still, everything in the apartment should work-you know, electricity and water and such."

"You think she'd be okay there?"

Aphrodite shrugged. “She'd be safer there than here.”

"All right. That's where she goes then."

"Is she gonna be okay with that?"

"I hope so, I’ll have Zoey tell her the fridge is full of blood." Aphrodite looked at me confused. “Dragon and Anastasia help us get some blood for Stevie Rea.” 

“They know?”

“Their minds always have been protected by Neferet, plus they also are Demigods.”

Aphrodite nodded then let out a breath. “Why do you trust me so much?” 

“I’ve met worse people then you, and they always hid the fact that they were a bitch or jackass. You were very much more open about it.” 

Aphrodite laughed a bit as we decided to get up again and head for the dorms. She smiled a bit then I let out a sigh. “You’re going to have to go with Zoey…” 

"To Stevie Rae?” 

I nodded and we both looked at each other. “You'll have to show her your house and how to get in the apartment and everything."

"Stevie Rae’s not going to want to see me," Aphrodite said.

"I know, but she'll have to get over it. When Zoey tells her you've had a vision about her, she's just gonna have to believe it. She believed the vision you had about Zoey’s Grandma.” I was glad I sounded so sure, because I really wasn’t all too sure. “But it might be best if you hide and wait until I've talked to her for a while before she sees you."

Aphrodite nodded and she sighed, “Yeah, that’s probably for the best. We don’t want Miss Dracula running off.”

“Aphrodite.” I said sternly and she looked at me with a bit of worry. “You need to stop acting like you don’t care about anyone. I know you do it as a way to not get hurt, but all it is doing is hurting you.” 

Aphrodite nodded and she crossed her arms and stopped walking. “Make sure your friends don’t change, power changes people.” She didn’t look at me but I knew she was thinking about her old group of friends- if you could call them that. “I would like to think Zoey and you choose your friends well, but I know how people are.” 

“I’ll make sure they don’t become power hungry.” I said and placed my hand on her shoulder. “You’re looking at someone who had the fate of the world on his shoulders twice. Well the second time it was divided between seven different demigods- but you see my point.”

"We'll see. Speaking of-Shouldn't you be heading to the movies to meet your friends right now?"

I sighed. "Yeah, but no way can I go. I want to stop by Wal-Mart and grab one of those GoPhones. I figure it would be a good idea to give it to Stevie Rae so that she could call Zoey." I then tilted my head realizing something. “And I need to send a message to Zoey and her circle, I have a feeling you’ll both need them.”

"If you’re going to take initiative, why don't I go with you. I have a car and I can drive you to get the GoPhone."

"Sounds good. I just need to run up to my room, grab my bag and then text Annabeth that I’ll be missing the movie due to Operation Stevie Rae."

"Okay, I'll go to my dorm, grab my keys." She then smiled a genuine smile at me. “Also, love the name of the plan.”

I nodded with a smile and we both quickly went into the dorms getting everything we needed to get the extra stuff needed. When I got into my dorm room I quickly grabbed my bed and took out my phone. I decided to text everyone instead of just Annabeth. Better they heard it directly from me then second hand.

Me: Change of plans. I won't be at the movie with y’all, Aphrodite told me about a vision she had about Stevie Rae. Zoey, Damien, Shaunee, and Erin meet me at Philbrook after the movie at two-thirty. I am going to break the school rules and grab the bag we made for Stevie Rae, I promise to explain everything once I see you all. 

Wise Girl: Is everything okay?

Z-Bird: What did Aphrodite have a vision about?

Me: Long story short, Neferet killing her by pulling her out into the sun at the House of Night.

Damien: She burns in the sunlight now?

Erik: Damn, that’s not good.

Me: Please just do as I say. I am going to go with Aphrodite to buy one of the GoPhones. I’ll see you at Philbrook.

Ghost King: Whatever you say Commander Blofis

I rolled my eyes after Nico’s text and quickly went to Zoey’s dorm and I realized her door was unlocked. I went in and grabbed the bag before quickly going to meet Aphrodite at her car. That’s when I realized this wasn’t going to be the only time Aphrodite helps Zoey us. I couldn’t help but smile knowing that Aphrodite was changing her ways one step at a time. 


	5. Giving Stevie Rae a Home

Once me and Aphrodite got absolutely everything that was needed, we parked outside Philbrook waiting for Zoey and her circle. I waited outside Aphrodite’s car as she stayed inside not wanting to face what she called the “Nerd Circle”. Yes I did try to point out she was now apart of it too, but she just scoffed. 

Soon I saw Zoey’s little bug pull up and Zoey, Damien, and the Twins pulled up to us confused. “Alright Percy, you promised us to explain what was going on.” Damien said really confused but I just shook my head a bit.

“Aphrodite has offered to house Stevie Rae at her old place.” Zoey looked at me surprised. “So I decided to get her a phone with our numbers in it. Mine and Zoey on speed dial.” 

“I don’t see why  _ Aphrodite  _ needs to be here.” Erin said through clenched teeth staring at Aphrodite in her car. 

“Because she needs to tell us how to get into the house. Also she brought extra blood besides what Dragon and Anasatia gave us.” I explained and both Erin and Shaunee sided. “Just follow Aphrodite’s car. I’ll be with her, she only seems to open up around me and Annabeth.” 

Zoey nodded, “Will do. Come on think about Stevie Rae.” She said more directed at Damien and the Twins but they both just nodded firmly and Damien gave me a look like he was starting to understand why I put faith into Aphrodite. 

I walked back and got into the car after Zoey and everyone else got into her car. I looked at Aphrodite and nodded for her to start driving. 

"It's an f-ing mansion!" I exclaimed as Aphrodite had pulled to her old place and got to where her Grandma used to stay. 

"It was a fucking prison. It still is." I was going to say something semi-profound about her being free now that she'd been Marked and was a legally emancipated minor and that she could actually tell her 'rentals to get lost, but I then remembered how it was hard for some kids back at camp to do the same thing.

All of us got out of our respected cars and walked up to the garage. Aphrodite used her key to unlock the door, which opened to a stairway. We followed her up to the apartment.

"Jeesh, servants must have lived pretty well back in the day," I mumbled, looking around at the dark, shiny wood floors, the leather furniture, and the gleaming kitchen. 

There weren't a bunch of cheesy knickknacks polluting the decor, but there were candles and some vases that looked totally expensive. I could see that the bedroom and bathroom were at the other end of the apartment, and could just peek in to see a big bed with puffy down comforters and pillows. My guess was the bathroom was nicer than my parents' master bathroom.

"Do you think it'll work?" Aphrodite asked.

Damien went to one of the windows. "Thick curtains-that's good."

"Shutters, too. See, we can close them from in here." Aphrodite demonstrated. 

I nodded at the flat-screen TV. "Cable?"

"Of course," she said. "There's a bunch of DVDs around here somewhere, too."

"Perfect," I said, moving to the kitchen. "I'll just stick all but one of the blood packs in here, and then we go get Stevie Rae.” 

"Fine. I'll watch Real World reruns," Aphrodite said.

"She’s not coming?" Zoey asked, surprised and me and Aphrodite both nodded.

Damien then thought for a moment and looked at us. “We’ll wait here with Aphrodite. I think it will do us some good, plus we can really get this place to scream Stevie Rae.” 

“Good thinking Damien.” Erin said and Shaunee nodded even though both of them looked like someone peed on their favorite pair of designer boots. 

Zoey then looked at the four of them. "Stevie Rae doesn't look or act like she used to."

"Really? I wouldn't have had a clue about that if you hadn't enlightened me. I mean, most people who die and then come back to life as bloodsucking monsters look and act totally the same." Aphrodite said sarcastically her walls coming up again. 

I noticed how the twins looked at one another as I gave her a stirn look and she muttered an apology.

"I'm serious." Zoey said just shaking her head.

"Zoey, I saw Stevie Rae and some of the other creatures in my visions. They're gross. Period, the end." Aphrodite said not really looking at her.

"It's worse when you see them in person."

"No big surprise there," she said.

"I don't want you to say anything to Stevie Rae," Zoey said.

"You mean about her being dead and all? Or about her being gross?"

"Either. I don't want her scared off. I also don't particularly want her to jump on you and rip out your throat. I mean, I think I could probably stop her but I'm not one hundred percent sure. And besides the fact that it would be disgusting and hard to explain, I really hate thinking about what all that blood would do to this cool apartment."

"How sweet of you."

"Hey, Aphrodite, how about you try something new. Try being nice," I said.

"How about I just don't say anything."

"That would work, too." Zoey said quickly and we both headed for the door. "We'll try to get her here soon."

"Hey," Aphrodite called after me after Zoey left. "Could she really rip out my throat?"

"Absolutely," I said, and closed the door behind me.

When me and Zoey got to the gazebo I held onto the bag and the phone in my hand. Zoey wrinkled her nose and that’s when I knew Stevie Rae beat us here. We walked into the gazebo and looked around a bit before Zoey spoke. 

"Stevie Rae, I know you're here somewhere." She called as quietly as she could. 

Okay, so vamps have the ability to move silently and to create a kind of bubble of invisibility around them. Fledglings also have this ability. It's just not as complete. Being as Zoey is an extremely gifted fledgling, she can move around fairly well and not be seen by anyone who might be gawking out a window at 3:00 a.m., like a museum security guard. So I was pretty confident about her ability to be unseen in the semi-dark, fairyland grounds of the museum, but I had no idea if she could extend that ability to covering Stevie Rae and I. In other words, we needed to get her, and get out of there.

"Come on out. I have your clothes and some blood and the latest Kenny Chesney CD." I added that last part as a blatant bribe. Stevie Rae had been ridiculously in  _ lurve _ with Kenny Chesney. Will and I were the only ones who could really understand it.

"The blood!" A voice that might have been Stevie Rae's if she had a really bad cold and had lost every last bit of her mind hissed from the bushes at the rear of the gazebo's base.

I walked around behind the gazebo peeking into the thick (yet well-trimmed) foliage. "Stevie Rae?" Eyes glowing a horrible rust red, she stumbled out of the bushes and lurched toward me. 

"Give me the blood!" She looked like she had been starving herself. Like this was the first time she had a meal in a while. 

Hurriedly I reached into my bag, jerked out the bag of blood, and handed it to her. "Hang on a sec, I have a pair of scissors in here somewhere and I'll-" With a really disgusting snarl, Stevie Rae tore open the little lip of the bag with her teeth, or fangs, opened the bag, and gulped down the blood. When she'd squeezed the bag dry she dropped it on the ground. She was breathing like she'd just run a race when she finally looked up at us.

"Ain't pretty, is it?"

I smiled and tried my best to ignore how worried and slightly scared I was. "Well, my mamma always says that correct grammar and good manners make one more attractive, so you might want to drop the 'ain't' and try saying 'please' next time."

"I need more blood."

"We got you more packets, but here is another one- the rest are in the refrigerator at the place you're going to be staying. Do you want to change your clothes here, or wait till we get there and take a shower? It's just down the street." I said kindly hoping she would go with us. This was the only plan we really had. 

"What are you talking about? Just give me my clothes and the blood." SHe said after tearing into the second packet. Her eyes weren't such a bright red, but she still looked mean and mad. 

Zoey drew a deep breath. "This has to stop, Stevie Rae."

"This is how it is with me now. This isn't going to change. I'm not going to change." She pointed to the outline of the crescent moon on her forehead. "It'll never be filled in and I'll always be dead." 

I stared at the outline of her crescent moon. Was it fading? I thought it definitely looked lighter, or at least less distinct, which couldn't be good. That did shake me up. "You're not dead" was all I could think to say.

"I feel dead."

"Okay, well, you kinda look dead. I know when I look like crap I usually feel like crap, too. Maybe that's part of why you feel so bad." Zoey said I reached into my bag and pulled out one of her cowboy boots. "Check out what we brought you."

"Shoes cannot fix the world." This was a subject Stevie Rae and the Twins had argued about before, and her voice held a hint of the old exasperation.

"That's not what the Twins would say." I said and then smiled remembering they were waiting for her.

The familiar tone in her voice flattened out to expressionless and cold. "What would the Twins say if they could see me now?"

I met Stevie Rae's red eyes. "They'd say you need a bath and an attitude check, but they'd also be unbelievably happy that you're alive."

"I'm not alive. That's what I keep trying to get you to understand."

"Stevie Rae, We are not going to understand that because you're walking and talking. I don't think you're anything like dead-I think you're changed. Not like we’re Changing, as in becoming what we're used to recognizing as an adult vampyre. You've made a different kind of Change, and I think it's harder than the one that's happening to us. That's why you're going through all of this. Would you please give us a chance to help you? Can't you just try to believe everything might turn out okay?" Zoey said and Stevie Rae got a sad expression on her face.

"I don't know how you can be so sure about that," she said. 

Then Zoey gave her the answer I felt deep in my soul, and knew the moment I heard it was exactly what Stevie Rae needed to hear.

"I'm sure about you being okay because I'm sure that Nyx still loves you and she let this happen for a reason." The hope that flashed in Stevie Rae's red eyes was almost painful to look at. 

"You really believe Nyx hasn't given up on me?"

"Nyx hasn't and we haven't." I ignored her smell and we gave her a firm hug, which she didn't return, but she also didn't jerk away from me or take a bite out of my neck, so I figured we were making progress. "Come on. The place we found for you to stay is just down the street."

We started walking, believing she would follow us, which she did after only a slight hesitation. We cut around the grounds of the museum and came out on Rockford, the street that runs in front of it. We walked down the middle of the road in the darkness, and ZOey concentrated on shrouding us in silence and invisibility, with Stevie Rae following only a couple of feet behind us. It was dark and seemed preternaturally silent. I glanced up through the winter branches of the huge old trees that lined the street. I should have been able to see an almost full moon, but clouds had rolled in, obscuring all but an indistinct glow of white where the moon should be. It had turned cold, and I was glad that my changing metabolism protected me from the whipping wind. I wondered if weather changes bothered Stevie Rae, and I was going to ask her about it when she suddenly spoke.

"Neferet won't like this."

"This?"

"Me being with you instead of with the others." Stevie Rae seemed really agitated and was plucking nervously at one hand with the other.

"Relax, Neferet won't know you're with us, at least not until we're ready for her to know," I said.

"She'll know as soon as she gets back and sees that I'm not with the rest of them."

"No, she'll just know you're gone. Anything could have happened to you." Then a thought hit me that was so incredible I stopped like I'd run into a tree. "Stevie Rae! You don't have to be around adult vamps to be okay!"

"Huh?"

"It proves you've Changed! You're not coughing and dying!"

"Percy, I've already done that."

"No no no! That's not what I mean." I grabbed her arm, ignoring the fact that she immediately pulled it from my grasp and took a step away from me. "You can exist without the vamps. Only another adult vampyre can do that. So it is just like I said. You have Changed, it's just a different kind of Change!"

"And that's a good thing?"

"Yep!" I wasn't as sure as I sounded, but I was determined to keep a positive front for Stevie Rae. Plus, she was looking not-so-good. I mean, even more not-so-good than her usual yucky look. "What's wrong with you?"

"I need blood!" She wiped a shaky hand across her dirty face. "Those little bags weren't enough. Zoey stopped me from feeding yesterday, so I haven't fed since the day before. It-it's bad when I don't feed." She tilted her head weirdly, like she was listening to a voice in the wind. "I can hear the blood whispering through their veins."

"Whose veins?" I was intrigued and I wanted to do anything I could to help her.

She made a sweeping gesture with her arm that was feral and graceful. "The humans sleeping around us." Her voice had dropped to a husky murmur. "One of them is awake." She pointed to the huge mansion to the right of where we'd stopped. "It's a girl... a teenager ... she's by herself in her room..."

Stevie Rae's voice was an alluring singsong. My heart had started to beat hard against my chest. "How do you know that?" I whispered.

She turned her burning eyes on me. "There's so much I know. I know about Zoey’s bloodlust. I can smell it. There's no reason she shouldn't give in to it.” She then turned to face Zoey who looked a bit pale. “We could enter the house. Go to the girl's room and take her together. I'd share her with you, Zoey. I can show you how to get in the house. I can sense secret ways. You could get the girl to invite me in-I can't go into a person's home now unless they invite me first. But once I'm in ..." Stevie Rae laughed, it was happy and young and innocently in love with life. Now what came out of her mouth was a mean, twisted echo of that old joy.

"The apartment is two houses down. There's blood in the fridge." Zoey said before she turned and started walking quickly down the street.

"It's not warm and it's not fresh." She sounded pissed, but she was following us again.

"It's fresh enough, and there's a microwave. You can nuke it." She didn't say anything else, and we came to the mansion in just a few minutes. I led her around to the garage apartment, opened the outside door, and stepped in. I was halfway up the stairs when I realized Stevie Rae wasn't behind me. Hurrying back down to the door I saw her standing outside in the darkness. All that was clearly visible of her was the red of her eyes.

"You have to invite me in," she said.

"Oh, sorry." What she'd said before hadn't really registered with me, and now I felt a jolt of shock at this further proof of Stevie Rae's soul-deep difference. "Uh, come on in," I said quickly. Stevie Rae stepped forward and ran smack into an invisible barrier. She gave a painful yelp, which turned into a snarl. 

Her eyes glowed up at me. "Guess your plan won't work. I can't get in there."

"I thought you said you just had to be invited in."

"By someone who lives at the house. You don't live here."

I suddenly frowned and remembered the barrier back at camp. Stupid exact rules, but before I curse our luck, above me, Aphrodite's voice called out. "I live here. Come in."


	6. Operation Stevie Rae Phase Two

Stevie Rae stepped over the threshold with no problem at all. She started up the stairs and had almost reached me when Aphrodite's voice must have registered on her. I saw her face change from expressionless to slit-eyed and dangerous.

"You brought me to her house!" Stevie Rae was talking to me and Zoey, but staring at Aphrodite.

"Yes, and why is actually easy to explain." I considered grabbing her in case she started to bolt, and then I remembered how weirdly strong she'd become, so I started to send a silent plea to Nyx and my Dad to give me the strength needed to stop her from leaving.

"How could you explain it! You know I hate Aphrodite." Then she did look at me and too Zoey. "I die and now she's your friend?"

"Get real. Zoey and I are not friends. Your little nerd herd is still intact. The only reason I'm involved at all is because Nyx has a totally bizarre sense of humor, and Percy and Annabeth care about being safe. So come in, for them..." Her voice trailed off as she stomped back into the apartment.

"Do you trust me?" Zoey asked Stevie Rae.

She looked at me for what seemed like a long time before she answered. "Yes."

"Then come on." I continued up the stairs with Stevie Rae following reluctantly behind. Aphrodite was lounging on the couch pretending to watch MTV. When we entered the room she wrinkled up her nose and said, “What is that disgusting smell? It's like something died and-" She looked up and caught sight of Stevie Rae. Her eyes widened. "Never mind.” She pointed to the rear of the apartment. “Bathroom's back there."

I handed Stevie Rae the bag. "Here ya go. We'll talk when you come out."

"Blood first," Stevie Rae said.

"Go on back and I'll bring a bag to you.” Zoey said looking at her friend and I noticed the Twins and Damien looked almost scared as they looked at Stevie Rae.

Stevie Rae was glaring at Aphrodite, who was staring at the TV. "Bring two," she practically hissed.

"Fine. I'll bring two."

Without another word, Stevie Rae left the room. I watched her move down the short hall with a weird, feral stride.

I walked over and sat next to Aphrodite and she continued to stare at the TV. “What I said was true.”

“I know, you really care about me and Annabeth this much?” I asked and I didn’t realize it at the time but I used my Big Brother voice to talk to her. “You seem pretty freaked by Stevie Rae.” 

“I wasn’t expecting it to be- it was different then my visions.” She mumbled and I smiled a bit. She did care about everyone, she just couldn’t show it. “You could have warned me.”

"I tried. You also said you'd be nice." I said before getting up to get some blood for Stevie Rea. Zoey knocked on the closed bathroom door. I stayed outside next to the door as Zoey went over to give her blood. I stayed and listened making sure to be there if anything happened. 

"I brought the blood," Zoey said softly, "Do you need help finding anything?” Zoey asked.

"Are you waiting around because you're curious about how I look naked or because you want a sip of the blood?" I heard Stevie Rae asked and winced a bit.

"Neither." Zoey replied, keeping her voice level before continuing. “Percy and I will be out in the living room. You can pitch your old clothes out in the hall and I'll throw them away for you." Zoey shut the bathroom door firmly behind her.

Aphrodite was rubbing her amr when we rejoined her with the others. "You think you can fix that?"

"Keep your voice down!" I whispered. Then I sat next to her own the couch Damien on the other side. "And, no, I don't think I can fix her. I think this circle and Nyx and I can fix her." I held my hand out t oher motioning her arm and she let me see the mark on her arm. “Does it still hurt?”

Aphrodite shook her head and Damien looked over and he tilted his head. “No, but I confronted my dad about it- Aphrodite is my mom. My own namesake.” She said flatly as she took away her arm and covered it once again. “The reason my parents marriage is so- frayed.”

“Don’t think that way.” Erin said which caused us all to be surprised. “You know when Zoey told us you had shit ‘rentles I hadn’t realized how shitty they were. You are not the reason for their shitty marriage.”

“Right you are Twin, even if you can be a complete Bitch, it’s never the kid who is at fault.” Shaunee continued and Aphrodite got a very small smile on her face as she nodded.

“She is worse than I thought she was going to be.” Damien said out loud and we all got quiet. 

“Yeah, that’s why we need to help her.” I said with a small smile.”So we can have our movie marathon weekends again as a full family.” 

“You mean your Geek-ends?” Aphrodite said which caused Damien and the Twins to suck in breaths.

“Yes, and it’s nothing to be ashamed about. Lord of the Rings and Star Wars are fantastic movies.” I retorted back and Aphrodite rolled her eyes.

I heard the bathroom door open and close so Zoey got up and grabbed a garbage bag from under the sink in the kitchen and crammed Stevie Rae's disgusting clothes in it, tying it up and then opening the apartment door and tossing it down the stairs.

"Vile," Aphrodite said under her breath.

“Yeah, but she did die and come back to life.” Damien absently said then smiled a bit.

“Let’s not talk about her while she is not in the same room.” Zoey said sitting down next to Damien and we all nodded in agreement.

I went back to staring at the TV, but after a while I could not sit still, so I got up and went from window to window closing the shutters and the thick drapes. That didn't take long, so I headed into the kitchen and started to dig through the cupboards. I'd already noticed that the fridge had a six-pack of Perrier, a couple of bottles of white wine, and a few bricks of that expensive imported cheese that smells like feet. There were some packages of butcher-paper-wrapped meat and fish in the freezer and ice cubes, but that was it. The cupboards had a bunch of stuff in them, but it was all rich-people food. There was not one can of decent pop. 

"We're gonna have to go to the grocery store," I said.

"If you can keep Stinky locked back in the bedroom, all you have to do is get into my parents' on-line account with Petty's Foods. Click what you want from the store. They'll deliver and charge it to my parents." Aphrodite explained like it was no big deal.

"Won't they freak when they see the bill?" Zoey asked confused and so did the others.

"They won't even notice," Aphrodite said. "The bank pays it directly. It's no big deal."

"Really?" I was amazed people actually lived like that. "You guys are rich." 

Aphrodite shrugged. "Yeah. Whatever."

Stevie Rae cleared her throat and we all jumped. The sight of her made my heart squeeze hard. Her short blond hair was wet, and it hung around her face in familiar curls. Her eyes were still tinted red and her face was thin and pale, but it was clean. Her clothes were baggy, but she looked like Stevie Rae again.

"Hi," I said softly. "Feel Better?"

She looked uncomfortable, but nodded.

"You smell better," Aphrodite said.

I gave her a stirn look and she looked back at me. 

"What? That was nice."

I sighed and shot her a ‘that's not how it sounded’ look. "Okay, how about we talk about coming up with a plan?" I meant it to be a rhetorical question, but Aphrodite spoke up right away.

"What exactly are we planning about? I mean, I know Stevie Rae has, uh, unique issues, but I'm not sure what you think can be done about them. She's dead. Or undead dead." She glanced at Stevie Rae. "Okay, I'm not actually trying to be mean, but-"

"It's not mean. It's just the truth." Stevie Rae interrupted her. "But don't pretend that you care about my feelings now any more than you did before I died."

"I was trying to be nice," Aphrodite snapped, sounding the opposite of nice but her voice shook like she was just struggling to keep her guard up.

"Try harder," Zoey said. “Sit down Stevie Rae." She sat in the puffy leather chair beside the couch and near the Twins. "Okay, here's what I know." Zoey ticked the points off on her fingers. "First, Stevie Rae doesn't have to live around adult vamps anymore, so that means that she has completed a Change." Aphrodite, Damien, and the Twins started to open their mouths and Zoey hurried on. "Second, she has to have blood, even more often than normal adult vamps." She looked at us all. "Do any of you know if adult vamps go crazy if they don't drink blood regularly?"

"In Advanced Vampyre Soc we've learned that adults need to drink blood regularly to stay healthy. That's mind and body." Aphrodite said her voice was not shaking anymore. “Neferet is the prof for the class, and she's never said anything about vamps going crazy if they don't drink. But that might be one of the things they tell us only after we've made the Change."

"I didn't know anything about it till I died," Stevie Rae said.

"Can it be blood from any mammal, or does it have to be human blood?"

"Human."

Zoey asked Stevie Rae, but she and Aphrodite answered at the same time.

"Okay, well, besides having to drink blood and not having to be around adult vamps, Stevie Rae can't come in someone's house unless she's invited." I mentioned and Damien and the Twins looked like they got hit with a brick.

"By someone who lives there," Stevie Rae added. "But that's not such a big deal."

"What do you mean?” Damien asked and Stevie Rae turned her gaze on him.

"I can get humans to do things they don't want to do." She explained and with an effort, I didn't shiver.

"That's not a shocker," Aphrodite said. "Lots of adult vamps have such strong personalities that they can be very persuasive to humans. That's one of the reasons they're so damn scared of us. You should know about that, Zoey."

“What?" I was confused about everything processing in my brain.

“She is referring to the fact I’ve imprinted on my ex-boyfriend.” Zoey said and Aphrodite nodded.

“I was, but that was rude- I shouldn’t have brought it up.” She said and that caused everyone to be surprised. I smiled, she was finally opening up to people.

“Okay, Stevie Rae has that in common with Changed vamps, too. But vamps don't have to be invited in to someone's house, do they?” Shaunee asked and Aphrodite shook her head.

"Never heard of anything like that," Aphrodite said.

"It's because I'm soulless," Stevie Rae said in a voice totally washed of all emotion.

"You are not soulless," we all said together automatically. We’ll except for Aphrodite who didn’t know what to think.

"You're wrong. I died and Neferet figured out a way to bring my body back, but she didn't bring my humanity back, too. My soul's still dead."

I couldn't even stand to think that what she was saying might be possible, and I opened my mouth to argue with her, but Aphrodite was quicker. "That makes sense. It's why you can't come inside a living person's home without being invited. It's also probably why you'll burn up if the sun hits you. No soul-no standing against the light."

"How did you know about that?" Stevie Rae asked.

"I'm the vision girl, remember?"

"Thought Nyx abandoned you and took the visions away, too," Stevie Rae said cruelly.

"That's what Neferet wants people to believe because Aphrodite had visions about her-and about you," I said pointedly but in a gentle tone. "But Nyx has no more abandoned her than she's abandoned you."

"So why are you helping Zoey?" Stevie Rae shot the question at Aphrodite. "And don't give me that crap about Nyx having a sense of humor. What's the real reason?"

Aphrodite sneered but then bit her cheek thinking about what to say. "Because I don’t want to be a  _ Hag from Hell _ .” She said sitting up straighter. “That’s what I thought I had to be because my parents told me I had to be.” She stared down Stevie Rae, “I actually want to  _ try  _ and change.” 

Stevie Rae sprang to her feet and moved across the room so fast that her movements were one big blur. Before I could blink she had her hands around Aphrodite's throat and her face pressed close to hers. 

"Stevie Rae, let her go." Zoey said as me and her got up to separate the two. 

"I've never liked her, Zoey. You know that. I told you a zillion times she was no damn good and you should stay far away from her. I don't know why I shouldn't snap her neck." I was beginning to worry about how bugged Aphrodite's eyes looked and how bright red her face was turning. She struggled against Stevie Rae, but it was like a little kid trying to break the hold of a big, mean adult. 

Suddenly I knew what to say. "You shouldn't snap her neck because you're not a monster." She didn't let go of Aphrodite, but Stevie Rae turned her head so she could look at me. "How do you know that?"

I didn't hesitate, "Because I believe in our Goddess, and because I believe in the part of you that is still one of our best friends. And Zoey’s  _ best  _ friend."

Stevie Rae released Aphrodite, who started coughing and rubbing her neck.

"Say you're sorry," Zoey told Stevie Rae. Her red eyes pierced me, but I lifted my chin and stared right back at her.

"Say you're sorry to Aphrodite," I repeated.

"I'm not sorry," Stevie Rae said as she walked (at a normal speed) back to the chair.

"Nyx has given Aphrodite an affinity for earth," I said to her simply. Stevie Rae's body jerked like I'd slapped her. "So by attacking her you're really attacking Nyx."

"Nyx is letting her take my place!" She yelled and it caused Damien and the Twins to flinch a bit.

"No.” I said and looked her in the eyes. “Nyx is letting her help you. We cannot figure this out on our own, Stevie Rae. We all absolutely believe Neferet has gone bad. So it's us against a powerful High Priestess. Aphrodite is the only fledgling besides our Herd who Neferet can't read. We need her help."

Stevie Rae narrowed her eyes at Aphrodite, who was still rubbing her neck and sucking air. "I still want to know why she'd bother to help us. She's never liked any of us. She's a liar and a user and a total bitch."

"Atonement," Aphrodite managed to gasp, and she sat up slowly. 

"What?" Stevie Rae said.

Aphrodite glared at her. Her voice was raspy, but she was definitely regaining her breath and had gone from being scared to being pissed. “Atonement! A-T-O-N-E-M-E-N-T." She spelled it. "It means I have to make up for something I've done. A lot of things, actually. So I have to do what I didn't do before-which is to follow Nyx's will." She paused and cleared her throat, grimacing in pain. “And the only people who have cared to try and steer me to the light care about you like you’re their sister. So I am helping them.” 

"Aphrodite answered your question," Zoey told Stevie Rae her voice telling me she was surprised. "She could have been nicer about it, but you did just try to choke her to death. Now apologize to her." I stared hard at Stevie Rae while I silently called spirit energy to me. I saw Stevie Rae flinch, and she finally looked away.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"I can't hear her," Aphrodite said, rubbing her neck a bit.

"And I can't deal with the two of you acting like big babies!" Zoey snapped. "Stevie Rae, apologize to her like a normal person instead of spoiled brat."

"I'm sorry," Stevie Rae said, frowning at Aphrodite.

"Okay, look," I said. "We need to have some kind of truce between us. I cannot be afraid if I turn my head you guys are going to be trying to kill each other."

"She couldn't kill me," Stevie Rae said, curling her lip unattractively.

"Stop it! If we can't get along, how in the hell can we expect to figure out a way to stand up to Neferet and fix what's happened to Stevie Rae?" I snapped and everyone looked at me surprised.

"We have to stand up to Neferet?" Aphrodite said.

"Why do we have to stand up to her?" Stevie Rae said.

"Because she's fucking evil!" Zoey yelled agreeing with me.

"You said fuck," Stevie Rae said.

"Yeah, and you didn't get struck by lightning or melt or anyfuckingthing like that," Aphrodite said gleefully.

"That didn't even look right coming out of your mouth, Z," Stevie Rae said. I couldn't help smiling at Stevie Rae. She suddenly looked and sounded so much like herself that I felt a huge rush of hope. She was still in there. We just had to figure out a way to get her to be in touch with.

"That's it!" I sat forward excitedly.

"Zoey cussing is it? I don't think so, Percy. It's really just not Z," Stevie Rae said.

"I think you were right when you said your soul was missing, Stevie Rae. Or at least part of it's missing."

"You're sounding like that's a good thing, which I totally don't get," Aphrodite said.

"I hate to agree with her, but yeah, why is my missing soul a good thing?" Stevie Rae said.

"Because that's how we fix you!" They just stared at me with blank, dopey looks. I rolled my eyes. “All we have to do is figure out how to get your soul back into you all in one piece and you'll be whole. You might not be exactly like you used to be. Clearly, you've completed a Change that's not exactly normal." I said and Daimen looked like he had an idea and he smiled at me. 

"But with a healed soul you get your humanity back- you get yourself back. And that's really what's most important. All this other stuff,” Damien said and Zoey got a big smile as she came to the conclusion me and Damien did. "You know, your weird eyes and the whole drink-blood-or-you-go-crazy issue, all that stuff can be dealt with if you're really you again."

"Are you saying what’s on the inside is more important on the outside, but literally.?" Aphrodite said.

"It is, and Aphrodite you are getting on my last nerve with your negative attitude," Damien said.

"I think your group needs a pessimist," she said flatly and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“We already have Nico.” Shaunee said and Erin curtly nodded.

"Enough!" Zoey said frustrated and everyone shut their mouth and we all took a breather. I glanced at the clock and was shocked to see that it was seven o'clock. 

No wonder I had started to feel exhausted. "Look, you two. We're all tired. Let's get some sleep and meet back here after the Full Moon Ritual. We'll do some more research and see if I can come up with anything about missing or broken souls and how to fix them." At least I had something I could focus on now. And Dragon and Nico could ask their dads if they could get any information.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'm ready to get out of here." Aphrodite stood up. "My parents are going to be gone for three weeks, so you don't need to worry about them coming home. There're yard boys who come twice a week, but that's during the day and-oh, yeah-you'll burst into flames if you go out during the day, so them seeing you shouldn't be a problem, either. The maid service usually comes once a week when my parents are gone, to keep the house all perfect, but they only come out here when my grandma's visiting, so no problem with them, either.”

"Wow, she's really rich," Stevie Rae said to Zoey and I smiled.

"Apparently," Zoey said.

"Do you have cable?" Stevie Rae asked Aphrodite.

"Of course," she said.

"Cool," Stevie Rae said, looking happier than she had since she died.

"Okay, so, we're out of here," I said, joining Aphrodite at the door. "Oh, Stevie Rae, I got you one of those GoPhones.”I said quickly, handing her the phone then smiling. “If you need anything, just call my cell, Zoey’s cell, any of our cells. I'll remember to keep it with me and actually turn it on." I paused, feeling weirdly uncertain about leaving her.

"Go on. I'll see you later," Stevie Rae said. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm already dead. What more can go wrong?"

"She has a point," Damien said smiling.

"Okay, well, take care of yourself," I said. I didn't want to say I thought she had a point, too. That seemed to be asking for trouble. I mean, she was undead, and that was pretty awful. But there were other things that could go wrong, too. The thought made a creepy chill go up my spine, I didn't have any idea of the horror we were blundering blindly into.


	7. Death

Once we got to the school we pulled back into the parking lot and I got out of Aphrodite’s car. Zoey, Damien and the Twins walked up to us and we all shared a look. I could sense the tension in the air and I realized while me and Aphrodite drive back in a respectful comfortable silence (mostly because neither of us wanted to talk about her attitude she was struggling with) they had an intense conversation. I went to speak to ease the tension but Zoey put her hand up to me.

“Look, we can all see that you are trying to change.” Zoey said talking to Aphrodite who had an emotionless look on her face. “And tonight we found out Nyx has given you an affinity for earth and that you truly care about both Percy and Annabeth. So we talked it over, you are too join the Dark Daughters again.” 

“Excuse me?” Aphrodite said her face changed into surprise and her voice broke a bit. “You want me to do what?” 

“You heard Zoey.” Shaunee said, crossing her arms. “You are going to swear upon the new rules and join the Dark Daughters.” 

“Then until we can fully help Stevie Rae and she can be our earth in our circle again, instead of you.” Erin said, narrowing her eyes and I noticed she had her arms crossed. 

Damien’s tone surprised me, “I can see you genuinely trying to change your ways, and I’ve roomed with Percy long enough to know to trust him when he says a person is worth trusting and forgiving.” He then looked directly at me and I looked back at him. “Percy, you also never had once tried to force us into forgiving her, you only ever suggested to give her a chance. So, Aphrodite, consider this your probation. We have not forgiven you yet, but we are giving you a chance to prove yourself.” 

Aphrodite nodded and I noticed from being right next to her that she had a couple tears falling down her face. “Thank you.” She said barely above a whisper. “I’ll try to prove that your trust isn’t misplaced.” 

“You’ll make the oath tonight at the ritual,” Zoey said and Aphrodite nodded. “We should go head inside and get some rest.” 

“That seems like a good plan-” I started to say but then my phone went off. I looked confused as did everyone else and I checked my phone. “It’s Nico..?” I quickly answered the phone and I was met with a frantic Nico. “Nico? What? Slow down I can’t process what you are saying. I want to help but you need to take a breather.”

“It’s Professor Nolan! I had a crazy dream and didn’t want to wake up Will and I felt like I needed to go to the Trap door. Oh Gods there is just so much blood and her body- Percy this is really bad.” Nico said and I could hear his voice shaking. 

“Listen to me Nico, take deep breaths we’ll head over to the Trap door just take deep breaths. I’ll stay on the phone with you okay? Just keep talking if it will keep you calm.” I said and everyone then looked really concerned. 

“Okay, I- I’ll just keep talking to you.” Nico said his voice still shaking but a bit calmer then what it was. 

I motioned for the others to follow me as I stayed on the phone listening to Nico just talk to me to stay calm. Something told me this was going to be horrific to look at. We picked up the speed and made it to the trap door. I saw Nico huddled away from whatever he saw and I quickly ran up to him hanging up the phone. He saw me and hugged onto me tightly. When I looked over his shoulder that’s when I saw her. 

Her body was nailed grotesquely to a crude wooden cross that was resting against the wall. They'd not just nailed her wrists and ankles. They'd also driven a thick wooden stake through her heart. There was some kind of paper over her heart, held in place by the grotesque stake. Someone also had cut off Professor Nolan's head, her long dark hair lifted softly in the breeze, looking obscenely graceful. Her mouth was open in a terrible grimace, but her eyes were closed.

I felt sick to my stomach and I heard everyone else let out horrified gasps and suddenly I knew what I had to do. I looked at Damien who was extremely pale, unable to look away from this bloody grotesque scene. I gave Nico to him and we shared a silent agreement. 

“I- I am going to get Dragon and Anastasia. They’ll know what to do- you guys take care of Nico and think of a cover story for why we all were here if anyone asks why we were here.” I said keeping my voice still. Aphrodite nodded and I noticed how she looked like she wanted to vomit.

“You go get Dragon.” Zoey said looking at me, “I’ll keep everyone calm.”

"I-I-I think I'm gonna be sick." Aphrodite said, holding her stomach.

"No, you're not." I couldn't believe how calm I sounded. "Breathe. Center yourself. Draw strength from the earth. I’ll be back as quick as I can. Keep Nico calm.” 

“Draw from the earth…” Aphrodite said nodding and then suddenly they all closed their eyes and I realized they were drawing from their own elements.

I left knowing Nico was in good hands and made a B-line to Dragon and Anastia’s apartment. I wondered if Hades would hear a prayer from me, so I sent one asking him if he would give some strength to his son. I made it to the apartments and ran up all the way to their apartment and frantically knocked on their door. I hadn’t realized it at that moment but my heart was beating so frantically I swear it would have popped out of my chest if it could. 

Dragon frantically opened the door and was even more concerned when he saw me. “Percy it’s 8 am you should be in your dorm-” He started to talk looking at me concerned.

“It’s Professor Nolan! She’s, she’s been crucified! At the trap door!” I said frantically unable to stay calm.

Dragon’s eyes widened and he quickly put on shoes grabbing the sword that was near the door. Then he ran with me as I led him to the trap door. When we got to the scene he stopped in his tracks, looked at Nico being comforted by Damien, the Twins, Zoey, and Aphrodite all far away from Professor Nolan’s body.

“My gods.” Dragon said and he looked at me with a kind expression and a regretful expression. “By policy I need to report this Neferet. Go get your story straight.” He said in a low voice and I went over to my friends who were all huddled on the ground with Nico. 

“He has to get Neferet, we need to have our story.” I said growing numb. 

“We were testing theories on who to represent earth when we ran into Aphrodite who looked like she had a vision and we rushed here when she told us she saw a grotesque scene of a vampyre’s death.” Zoey started her voice shaking. 

“Then we followed her because she was extremely distraught and when we found Professor Nolan, Nico broke down because she was his mentor.” Damien finished and I nodded, rubbing Nico’s back.

"Neferet!” I heard Dragon’s voice ring out. “You have to come! A group of fledglings have found a horrific sight! A professor has been Murdered" 

“Where did they find this?” Neferet asked and I heard their voices grow louder. 

“The trap door that the Dark Daughters and Sons use to sneak out for rituals.” Dragon said his voice stayed calm but there was a hint of frantic worry in his tone. 

“My Goddess!” I heard another voice call out and I looked up to see Lenobia running over to us after seeing how Professor Nolan’s body was desecrated. 

Everything happened fast after that, Neferet immediately took charge. She assessed us all and decided that I was the only one well enough to tell us what happened. She and Dragon moved to gather the warriors who had already come back from winter break. It seemed like seconds later that two tall, muscular male vamps appeared. I recognized them from when I’d get to the gym early enough that some of the warriors were still using it to work out. There was always an assortment of adult vamps coming and going from the school. I'd learned early that vampyre society was heavily matriarchal, which just means women run things. It doesn't mean that male vamps aren't respected, though. They are. It's just that their gifts are usually more in the physical realm and women's gifts are more intellectual and intuitive. I felt more at ease when more warriors were around us. That doesn't mean I was thrilled about talking to them on how we found Professor Nolan’s body. 

"We had been near the big oak tree at the East wall testing theories on who to take Stevie Rae’s place at representing earth," I launched into our Big Lie. "The candle had zapped me and we were about to test Nico because he is a son of Hades so we thought he would have a connection to the earth." My eyes skittered over to the dark area by the trapdoor in the wall. "That’s when Aphrodite came to us." I drew a shaky breath. "She looked like she had a vision and Nico and I got a really bad feeling when we saw her. We knew she wasn’t lying." I swallowed to clear the thickness in my throat. "She explained how she had this vision of a vampyre’s death over by the trap door. So we made our way over there and that’s when we saw her. Nico immediately broke down because she was his mentor."

Neferet nodded and Dragon moved closer to me and it made me feel a little better. “Will you be okay if you come with us to see her better?” I nodded and led them closer to Professor Nolan’s body. "Oh, gracious Goddess!" Neferet gasped. She moved forward slowly until she reached the terrible staked head. I watched as she stroked Professor Nolan's hair back and then rested her hand on the dead woman's forehead. "Find peace, my friend. Rest in the green meadows of our Goddess. It is there we will, one day, meet again." I felt like I was going to be sick when Dragon placed a hand on my shoulder in a fatherly way.

“Neferet, I think it would do this group of fledglings some good if they are moved away from the scene.” He explained and she nodded agreeing. 

“Of course Dragon, you shall lead this group into getting some food and they all could use some rest. Please call the rest of the Warriors back once you can.” She said and he bowed respectfully before we guided me over to my friends and took us inside. 

"You all need something to drink and something to eat. Then you need sleep. I'm going to make sure you get the first two before the second." He paused andgave us all a fatherly look. "Even though you look ready to pass out on your feet."

We all nodded as we sat around the table trying to process what we witnessed. That’s when Zoey spoke up. “I’m not hungry…” 

“I second that.” Damien mumbled.

There was a sound of agreement that washed over our group, and I heard Dragon let out a defeated sigh as he placed food in front of us all. “I know, but it will make you all feel better- and so will this.” He said as he placed some red wine in front of us all. 

I blinked in surprise at the large goblet of red wine. "I don't really like-"

"You'll like this wine." He said gently. "Trust me and drink it." I did as he told me. The taste exploded on my tongue, sending sparks of heat throughout my body. I gasped surprised at the sensation but my senses seemed to awake with it.

"It has blood in it!" Zoey gasped and I looked around and the others had the same expression I did, besides Aphrodite.

"It does, It's how vampyres drink their wine-laced with blood." He sat with us and that’s when I realized he had taken this group of misfits in as his own kids. "If the taste is disagreeable to you, I'll get you all something else to drink."

"No, it's fine. I'll drink it like this." I took another sip, forcing myself not to chug it all down in one huge swallow to get that feeling back.

“It’s surprisingly good to this third former.” Damien said trying to force some lit heartedness into the group. Everyone agreed and I felt a wave of calmness wash over me.

"I had a feeling you wouldn't have a problem with it." Dragon said and we all looked at him. “You all are very special fledglings. Never before has there been a high priest and her circle full of vampyres who have affinities for the elements, and It’s rare that demigods are marked by Nyx.”

We all nodded and I absently started to eat the sandwich in front of me. I kept thinking of what we just witnessed. I wanted Annabeth near me. I wanted to hold her close and I wanted to feel her running her hands through my hair as I talked through all my feelings. But I also didn’t want to bother her. 

“So when did Aphrodite become apart of your group?” Dragon asked quietly and Zoey told him everything. He took every last bit of information in nodding clearly thinking about Stevie Rae’s broken soul. “That is a great lead, I’ll talk with my father when I get the chance. I can trust you seven to get to your dorms on your own?” 

I nodded, “Yeah, I think we all are feeling better.” I answered and everyone nodded. 

“Alright, I need to assemble the rest of the Warriors. I hope you can sleep well.” Dragon said before getting up, getting his phone out and walking out of the dorms. 

We didn’t talk for a while till Zoey spoke up. “The quote on the note… I think I know who killed her.” 

“What was the Quote?” Damien asked as we all looked at her.

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Exodus 22:18.' And repent written and underlined several times." Zoey answered and Aphrodite scowled. 

“The People of Faith.” She answered and we all felt our blood boil. 

“I think we all need to sleep and conveen with the rest of the herd tomorrow.” Damien said before things might have gotten out of hand. 

We all nodded and got up, took care of our dishes and headed to our dorms. Damien, Nico, and I stayed close walking to our dorms. We walked Nico to his before going to ours, not wanting him to be alone. I gave him a tight hug before I let him go to cuddle up against Will for the rest of the time we could sleep. 

The walk and journey to our beds was a quiet one. Everything was falling apart and I couldn’t help but wonder if it really was what it seemed to be. I also wanted to call my mom and beg her to come and visit so she could just hold me like I was twelve again. When I got into bed tears started to fall down my face and Zoë immediately climbed into the bed with me. She pressed against my side and let out a soft mew before purring to calm me down. I felt safer than I did before and fell asleep slowly listening to Zoë purr and the sound of my own heart beat. 


	8. Demigods and Sneeking Out

When I woke up the next evening and had to take deep breaths, flashes of war passing through my head. I looked over to Damien who was sitting up petting Cameron. I looked at my lap to see Zoë sitting looking up at me. I knew nothing was going to normal from now on. I knew that Zoey’s story was kicking into full gear, so to keep me sane I thought about possible ways we could help Stevie Rae. Help her go through whatever this new change for her would be. My phone went off and I saw that grover was frantically texting me. 

G-Man: Percy! What happened! 

G-Man: I tried to contact you last Night!

G-Man: It was like you were blocked!

G-Man: Percy!

I quickly moved to text him back so that he would calm down- I wanted to keep everyone safe, let them relax. But I also couldn lie to my best friend. The man I had an empathy link with. 

Me: This is going to be hard to hear. 

Me: I don't want you to cause a panic.

Me: I also don't want to keep my best friend in the dark.

Me: So please just think before you act after I tell you what’s going on.

G-Man: Okay Percy, but you should know I am going to assemble our crew if I conclude you’ll need us.

Me: Fair enough, so this is what has happened.

I wrote out everything that has happened from when Stevie Rae rejected the change and to what happened last night. I got up waiting for his response, brushing my teeth and getting dressed. I looked over to Damien who looked back at me. We both knew everything was going to change. Cammy and Zoë looked at us both and I grabbed my phone hoping Grover wasn’t freaking out. Suddenly Damien spoke up before I could even send another text asking if Grover was okay. 

“What are we going to do- they’re not going to let anyone off campus. The food supply for Stevie Rae is going to run out quickly.”Damien said and he pet Cammy who moved closer to him. “I don’t think we can really ask Dragon to help as he is in control of the Sons of Erebus warriors. What do we do?” 

I sat there trying to think of a response and then I saw a simple text pop up on my screen. 

Pine Tree: We are coming and that is final, Seaweed Brain.

I sighed then looked at Damien who looked at me confused. “We find a way to meet up with some demigods- because they feel like they need to be with us.”

“Are you serious?” Damien asked standing up looking amazed. 

“Deadly.” I stood up as well pocketing my phone and grabbing my bag. “Come on, we need to find the rest of the Herd- we have to catch Erik, Jack, Nico, Will, and Annabeth up, and we need to tell everyone Demigods are going to be arriving.” 

Damien nodded following suite, Cammy and Zoë following us out the door quickly. We walked in silence to the commons and saw Shaunne, Erin, Will, Nico, Jack, Erik, Annabeth, and Aphrodite sitting together speaking quietly. I moved over sat next to Annabeth and Damien sat next to Jack. I rubbed my neck as everyone looked at my expectantly. 

“Did you guys catch everyone up?” I asked the Twins who nodded. 

“I still find this whole situation weird.” Erik commented and I noticed that Aphrodite nodded. 

“Well itś going to get weirder. Grover is assembling the crew.” I mentioned and Nico looked at me. 

“What.” He said in a concerned tone. 

“Grover decided, after finding out what has happened, that they needed to come here and help us.” I explained then Nico frowned and shook his head. “Thalia confirmed it by sending me a text saying ‘We’re coming and that is final, Seaweed Brain’ trust me if I could have argued against it I would have.”

Everyone went quiet and Erik spoke up, “So we have to worry about meeting up with some Demigods when we aren’t even allowed off campus?” 

“Yes.” I answered and then Aphrodite looked at me. 

“I know a way off campus- Zoey asked me about it earlier- as SR’s food supply is running low and needs to be stocked up.” She answered and I nodded understanding where she was going with this. 

“Zoey and I can meet with the crew and stock up SR’s food at the same time.” I continued and Aphrodite nodded. 

That’s when Nico spoke up, “You could take them to SR’s place and have them room with her.” 

Will nodded then smiled, “If Thalia said she’s coming- she would have the Hunters on speed dial, so to speak, and they can supply SR with her food source till we have an idea on how to help her make this new change.” 

We all smiled realizing how this was turning out alright and we all then moved our attention to the TV relaxing waiting for Zoey to join us. It was relaxing to just watch TV and forget about all the events that transpired. Zoë jumped up onto my lap and I heard the familiar grumpy thoughts of a certain cat that made me look over and see Zoey walking over to us. She smiled at me holding Nala in her arms. 

“So, I’m sure Aphrodite already told you-” Zoey started and I stood up. 

“Yes, and I’m coming with you Z-bird.” I said getting up after Zoë jumped up onto my shoulders. “Family is visiting and I think we can kill two birds with one stone this way.” 

Zoey nodded then looked to everyone who smiled at her, “You guys will cover us?”

“We will, this isn’t Percy’s first time breaking the rules.” Annabeth said with a chuckle and I smiled rolling my eyes 

“You guys just meet up with Family, SR, and go talk with your imprint.” Aphrodite continued.

“It’s getting really bad?” Erik asked and Zoey nodded and Erik gave her a sympathetic look. “I hope that meeting goes well for you Z.” 

Zoey smiled at him and nodded. She then looked at me and led the way to where we needed to go. I quickly sent a text telling Thalia to have the crew meet us at SR’s place, giving them the address. We made a B-Line to Dragons and Anastasia’s apartment. Anastasia greeted us and then gave us the blood. She hugged us both telling us she was going to cover for us as well. We then walked to the stables and I suddenly felt like I was calming down a bit. Zoë purred and Zoey looked at us and smiled relaxing realizing it was only Zoë. 

She was about to speak when she ran into a large vampyre I recognized but couldn’t remember his name. I knew it was one of the Sons of Erebus warriors Dragon called back. He helped steady Zoey and chuckled a bit. 

“Careful, fledgling," He said and then his nonexpression shifted. "You're Zoey Redbird, accompanied by Percy Blofis.”

"Yeah, I'm Zoey." She said with a slight blush on her cheeks.

After letting go of Zoey he pressed his hands over his heart in a salute. “Merry met. It is a pleasure to know the fledgling Nyx has so greatly gifted.”

A bit awkwardly Zoey returned his salute. "Nice to meet you, too. And you are?"

"Darius, of the Sons of Erebus," he said, bowing formally and making it a title and not just a description.

"You're one of the guys called in because of what happened with Professor Nolan?” Zoey’s voice cracked a little, which he clearly noticed.

"You shouldn't worry, Zoey. The Sons of Erebus will protect Nyx's school with our last breath." He then looked at me and smiled. I couldn’t believe I forgot Darius’s name. "And you have a skilled swordsman with you, I suspect he will become an incredibly skilled Warrior of the sons of Erebus.”

“Yes, I have seen him in action before- on Samhain.” Zoey answered and I felt my cheeks get red. 

"Yes so you can see, you may rest safely, little priestess," he smiled at Zoey. 

"Oh, good. Uh, I will." I started down the steps. "We’re just going to the, uh, stable to visit my mare and his stallion, Persephone and Mars. It was nice to meet you. I'm glad you're here," Zoey added, giving him a ridiculous wave and then hurrying down the sidewalk toward the stables.

His eyes stayed on us and when we were far enough away I let out a chuckle. Zoey punched my arm a bit and I couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to know that people here thought I could be a protector. I guess I always have been, it’s just become more prevalent as I’ve been here helping Zoey and the Herd. Zoey then grabbed my hand and I realized what she was doing. I took a deep breath and helped her in calling silence and invisibility around us. I could sense the presence of the Sons of Erebus, but I didn't look around. I didn't allow my concentration to falter. Instead I kept up my internal prayer. I looked at Zoey who smiled and we moved like the wisp of a thought or a secret, undetectable and hidden in layers of silence and fog, mist and magic. 

It seemed I actually floated, and when I glanced down at myself I saw only a shadow within fog within shadow. This must have been what Bram Stoker described in Dracula. Instead of startling me, the thought strengthened my concentration and I felt myself become even less substantial. We found a lightning-damaged tree and climbed up its broken trunk and out onto the thick branch that rested against the wall as if I was weightless.There was a rope tied securely around a fork in the branch and coiled like a waiting snake. Still moving in silent motions Zoey tossed the end over the wall. 

She then lifted her arms and whispered, "Come to me air and spirit. Like midnight mist, carry us to earth."

We didn't have to jump from the wall. The wind swirled around us in an airy caress, lifting our bodies, which had turned as insubstantial as spirit, and floating us the twenty feet to the grass on the other side of the wall. For a moment the sense of wonder that filled me made me forget about murdered teachers and the stress. Arms still upraised, Zoey twirled around, loving the feel of wind and power against her skin. Barely touching the ground we moved along the grassy path until we came to the sidewalk that led down Utica Street the short distance to Utica Square. We paused and Zoey quickly fished the concealer and a mirror out of her canvas bag. She helped cover my tattoos and I covered hers. I felt like an older brother trying his best to make his younger sister feel better after a rough day. It was peaceful. I hoped one day I could do this for Estelle- but obviously her not needing Vampyre tattoos covered up. I looked over and noticed Zoey’s tattoos on her back were showing so I pulled out a light jacket and gave it to her. 

She thanked me before we headed down the sidewalk to Utica Square. Zoey murmured something about Starbucks so I assumed that’s where we were meeting Heath. We stayed on the dark side of the street where there were very few streetlights and walked slowly, trying to stay as invisible as possible. We'd gone less than half the distance to the square when I saw him coming toward Zoey. He was walking on the opposite side of the street and was right under a streetlight. I could see his eyes sparkle and his smile blaze. Instantly, he kicked into a jog and crossed the street (I noticed he didn't look either way and was glad the crappy weather was keeping traffic to a minimum-the kid could have gotten smushed by a car).

His arms were around Zoey and I suddenly felt extremely awkward to be there. "Zoey! Oh, baby, I've really missed you!"

I realized then that Heath didn’t even notice I was there. Zoey pushed Heath away from her. "Heath, you were supposed to wait for me at Starbucks." 

He shrugged and grinned. "I was, but then I felt you coming and no way could I just sit there anymore." His brown eyes sparkled adorably and his hand caressed the side of Zoey’s cheek as he added, "We're Imprinted, remember? It's you and me, baby."

I rolled my eyes and I heard Zoey let out an exasperated sigh. “No heath, us being Imprinted is a mistake. I only fed from you because I needed blood to save your ass. It is not you and me. I broke up with you, and I have a new boyfriend.” 

“Oh come on Zo-” Heath started to say but Zoey cut him off. 

“No. I’m ending this once and for all. So let’s go to Starbucks and talk this over in public so we have a reason to not make a scene.” Zoey said and I smiled proud of how she was handling the situation. 

Heath clenched his jaw and shook his head. “We can’t.” 

“What do you mean we can’t?” I asked and his eyes darted to me then back to Zoey. 

“Kayla and the bitch squad picked tonight to go to Starbucks." He answered to Zoey.

"Bitch squad?" She asked, confused.

"Yeah, that's what me and Josh and Travis call Kayla and Whitney and Lindsey and Chelsea and Paige."

"Oh, ugh. Since when did Kayla start hanging around with those hateful sluts?"

"Since you got Marked."

Then Zoey’s eyes narrowed at him. "And why would Kayla and her new friends just happen to pick this particular night to go to Starbucks? And why this Starbucks instead of the one in Broken Arrow that's way closer to where they all live?"

Heath held up his hands like he was surrendering. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Do what, Heath?" Jeesh, the kid was so stupid sometimes.

"I didn't know they'd be coming out of the Gap just when I was pulling up in front of Starbucks. I didn't see them till after they saw me. It was too late then."

"Well that explains their sudden desire for caffeine. I'm surprised they didn't follow you down the sidewalk." Zoey said clearly annoyed and she took a deep breath. “Look I don’t want to see them, but me and Percy also are doing some other tasks tonight. So we are going to make this quick.” 

“Make what quick. Zo?” Heath asked confused and I rolled my eyes. 

“I am not your girlfriend.” She said harshly pushing Heath away- I hadn’t realized how close he had gotten to her. “This imprint shouldn’t have ever happened. You need to leave me alone. If you don’t I am going to block your ass.” 

Heath looked hurt and he went to get closer to Zoey but she stopped him. “Why are you doing this?” 

“Because it is not fair to Erik or myself to keep leading you on.” Zoey explained her voice was deadly serious. “It’s not fair to you to also keep seeing you when you are not thinking logically about this- you are only thinking with the mistake that was placed upon you against my will.” 

“Zo-” Heath went to speak again but Zoey kept speaking. 

“I do not want to be with you- I care about you. You have been my friend since the third grade, but I do not love you like I used to. So please, just leave me alone.” Zoey finished and Heath looked like he was just hit with a big baseball bat as Zoey finally spoke her mind. But before he could even give a response Zoey turned to me and she looked proud of herself. “Come on, we have some other tasks to do.” 

I smiled and nodded as we walked off leaving Heath behind. Zoey seemed happier after telling Heath how she felt. We both quickly left for Aphrodite’s Garage Apartment Zoey fixing the bag on her shoulder as we came to the house. I heard quiet voices and smiled. I looked at Zoey who also had a smirk. We walked over knowing we were both hidden by her strong Vamp magic. I saw Thalia leaning against a tree talking with Frank and Hazel, Piper and Jason both just staring at the house- well mansion. Leo and Grover talking about all the reasons why I wanted them to come here. I then walked up Zoey behind me. I smiled realizing they really couldn’t see me. 

“Wow Z-bird your cover is really working.” I said a bit louder than needed which caused everyone of them to leap into action then Grover ran up and hugged me. I chuckled and hugged him back. “Sorry for scaring you guys- we had to sneak out to meet up with you- and by we I mean Zoey Redbird and myself.”

“You’re not with Annabeth?” Thaia asked and I shook my head once Grover let go. 

“Nope, she and the rest of our herd are covering for us while we take care of business. Come on, you guys are going to be staying here.” I said and everyone’s eyes went wide. “Well in the garage apartment in the back.” 

“Come on, follow us.” Zoey said chuckling. 

I followed Zoey motioning for the rest of them to follow me. We went into the garage apartment walking up the stairs. Once we got to the apartment door Zoey opened the door after she knocked and I decided to be the one to speak. 

“Stevie Rae? We brought you roommates and blood.” I said and I felt tense every single demigod. “You can’t eat the roommates.”

Zoey then walked in with me and I looked at everyone giving them a look to trust me. They chose to come here and this is the only place they can stay. I then walked in and Saw Stevie Rae was sitting watching a lifetime movie on the couch and turned her head to look at me and Zoey. She looked better, but there was still something missing.

“You shouldn’t bring people here.” She said in a deadpan tone. “If they sneak up on me it could end badly.” 

“Yeah- well one can set himself on fire, one can turn into animals, one can control lighting, one can fly, one can literally get people to do whatever she wants, and one can cause gems to come out of the ground.” I said which caused Stevie Rae to look behind me. “I think they can handle being around you.” 

“Plus, you keep saying not to do this- or that but you stop yourself.” Zoey said and then lifted the bag. “I'm going to fill the fridge and we can catch you up on everything.” 

Stevie Rae nodded, turning off the TV as I sat down next to her. She didn look at me and I sighed. I motioned for the others to sit down. Stevie Rae looked at them all wrinkled her nose. “They smell funny.” 

“Well, they are demigods- so.” I said and she shook her head.

“You don’t smell like they do- they smell bad.” Stevie Rae said and Leo chuckled a bit.

“Well I’m sorry Vamp girl we haven't showered in a couple hours.” He said and Stevie Rae shook her head.

“No- your blood. It smells bad. Unappetizing.” She answered and he just nodded and Grover looked up.

“You can smell our blood?” He asked and she nodded. 

“Well the fact they smell unappetizing is a good thing- because they don’t have another place to go, and they won't leave here- trust me.” I said and Zoey chuckled sitting down. 

“You have weird friends- they know about the danger right?” Stevie Rae asked and I nodded. 

“Yep and that’s what caused them to come.” 

“That’s some flawed logic.” 

“Tell me about it.”

“We are sitting right here Water Boy.” Leo said and I laughed a bit and noticed a smirk on Stevie Rae’s face. 

Zoey chuckled as well too and then her expression changed. She placed a hand on Stevie Rae’s shoulder. “Things are picking up rather quickly.” 

“What do you mean?” She asked and I then sighed as Zoey continued her thought.

"Professor Nola was killed last night. It looks like some of the People of Faith crucified her and chopped her head off and left her out by the trapdoor on the east wall with a lovely note about not suffering a witch to live. I think that my step-loser might be involved, but I can't say anything about it because my mom is covering for him, and if I rat him out she'll probably go to jail forever. We just left from me finally actually breaking up with Heath- that boy can be so stupid- and Loren Black is trying to get me to be his “star-crossed lover” or some shit.”

The old Stevie Rae flickered inside this one's red eyes. "Ohmygoodness," she said.

"Yeah."

"You've been making out with Loren Blake?" As usual, Stevie Rae got to the heart of the juiciest gossip.

I sighed and Zoey shook her head. “No. He has been trying to make out with me- or so I think. He could be working for Neferet.” 

"I'll bet he tastes good," she said.

"Huh?" I heard Jason ask and I chuckled and she looked at him.

"I mean his blood."

"I wouldn't know." He answered by getting a blush and Stevie Rae smirked. 

"Speaking of. You'd better slow down on the blood drinking. Neferet called in the Vamp's Sons of Erebus warriors and it's pretty hard to sneak out of school right now. I'm not sure when we'll be able to get back here with more tasty bloody goodness." I said and everyone looked at me. 

A shiver passed through Stevie Rae's body. She had been looking almost normal, but at my words her expression flattened out and her eyes reddened.

"I can't stand it much longer." She'd spoken in such a low, strained voice that I almost didn't hear her. “I can feel it slipping away... more and more each day... each hour."

"What's slipping away?" Zoey asked.

"My humanity!" she practically sobbed.

"Honey," Zoey scooted over and put her arm around her. "You're better. Weŕe here now. We'll figure this out." 

Stevie Rae looked into Zoey’s eyes. “Right now, I can feel your pulse. I know every time your heart beats. There's something inside of me that is screaming at me to rip your throat open and drink your blood. And that something is growing stronger." She pulled away from her, moving to press herself against the end of the couch. “I can put on the old Stevie Rae's face, but it's only part of the monster in me. I just do it so that I can hunt you."

I took a deep breath and refused to look away from her. “Okay, I know some of that is true. But I don't believe all of it, and I don't want you to believe all of it either. Your humanity is still there, inside you. Yeah, it might be getting buried, but it's still there. And that means we're still friends. Plus, think about it. You don't have to hunt me. Hello-I'm right here. Not exactly hiding."

"I think you both might be in danger from me," she whispered.

I smiled. "I'm tougher than you think, Stevie Rae." Moving slowly so I didn't startle her, I reached out and put my hand over hers. “Draw on the power of earth. I believe you're different from the rest of the, uh-" I paused, trying to figure out what to call them.

"Gross undead dead kids?" Stevie Rae supplied.

"Yeah. You're different from the rest of the gross undead dead kids because of your affinity with the earth. Draw on that and it will help you fight whatever is going on inside you." Zoey said with a kind smile.

"Darkness...it's all darkness inside me," she said.

"It's not all darkness. The earth is in there, too.” I said and suddenly I saw something twinkle in Hazel’s eyes.

"Okay ... okay..." she panted. "The earth. I'll remember. I'll really try."

"You can beat this, Stevie Rae. We can beat this." Zoey said, holding her hand.

"Help me," she said, suddenly squeezing our hands so hard I almost cried out. "Please, help me."

"We will. I promise." Zoey said in a firm tone and looked at me, I nodded in agreement.

"Soon. It has to be soon."

"It will be. I promise," I repeated, not having a clue how we were going to keep my promise.

"What are you going to do?" Stevie Rae asked, eyes desperately locked with Zoey’s. 

Zoey then said something that made something click within my own mind. "I'm going to cast a circle and ask for Nyx's help." 

Stevie Rae blinked. "That's it?"

"Well, our circle is powerful and Nyx is a goddess. What more do we need?" Zoey sounded way surer than I felt.

"You want me to represent earth again?" Her voice quivered.

"No. Yes." Zoey paused, then that’s when something truly quicked in my mind. I then placed my hand up to Piper so I could speak without her questioning me. 

“Stevie Rae, you know how this is Aphrodite’s place?” I asked and she nodded, narrowing her eyes. “I think Nyx has given her an affinity for earth to help you regain your humanity.” 

“She represents Earth now! That hag is now a part of our circle!” SHe then looked to Zoey who looked at her kindly. 

“Not without trying other options first- the Earth candle literally zapped Percy when we tried him representing earth.” Zoey then looked her in the eyes. “She wouldn’t be a part of it if Nyx didn’t force her to be there.” 

STevie Rae growled- and I mean growled. BUt then I saw something flicker in her eyes and she looked at me. “You were zapped?” 

“Well yeah- though it wasn’t as bad as when I would spare with Thalia, it scared me more then anything.” I answered and she nodded but still frowned. 

She then looked at all my friends and stood up. “Keep the blinds closed in the morning. I will literally burn if I am in the sunlight.” She then paused and crossed her arms. “I’m sorry for scaring you.” She then left for the kitchen and Grover looked at me. 

“So- that’s Stevie Rea?” He asked and I nodded. 

“I told you, she needs help.” I said then sighed, “Bad things are happening and I need you to help her. She’s lost and is holding onto something she thinks is going away. I’ll text you when Zoey and the rest of us figure out just what we are going to do with this circle.” 

“And we’ll take care of her while you are figuring that out.” Thalia said and I smiled.

“I'm sorry, but we gotta go. Neferet is having a special ritual for Professor Nolan, and then Zoey has to do the Full Moon Ritual thing." I said standing up as Zoey got up as well. 

Grover then hugged me and smiled. “Stay safe.” 

“You’ll know if I’m not- but I’ll try.” I said hugging him back. 

“Earth is her element…” Hazel said and I smiled. 

“Whatever you are thinking about, try it. Try anything if Stevie Rae let’s you.” I said and she smiled at me. Zoey and I then left as the others talked amongst themselves about this new adventure they were in. Zoey hid us once again and we hurried back to the house of night. 


	9. Protection

Naturally, we got caught sneaking back on campus. We had already floated back over the wall (and made sure we had completely removed the concealer from our marks) and were making our way back to the dorm with what I considered excellent speed and stealth when we practically ran into them-a group of vamps and upperclassmen ringed by at least a dozen of the warriors. The Twins and Damien in the group, so Neferet was including Zoey’s Prefect Council. We froze, stepped back into the shadow of a big oak, and held our breath. Hoping that Zoey’s newfound cool power of invisibility (or maybe mist control) would let us remain unseen. Unfortunately, as I watched, Neferet paused, which caused the entire dang group to pause. She cocked her head and I swear she sniffed the breeze like a bloodhound. Then her eyes went to the tree-my hidey place-and seemed to bore into us. My skin shivered and I knew we were completely visible again.

"Oh, Zoey! There you are. I was just asking your friends"-she paused long enough to give the Twins, Damien, and Erik one of her amazing one-hundred-twenty-five-watt smiles- "where you could have gotten off to." She dimmed the smile and exchanged it for a perfect look of motherly concern. "Now is not the time to wander about by yourself."

"Sorry. I, uh, I needed ..." Zoey trailed off, majorly aware that all eyes were on her.

I then stepped forward and cleared my throat, “She wasn’t alone completely, I kept an eye on her as she had her Z.A.T.”

“Z.A.T?” Neferet asked and the Twins smirked at me.

"Yeah, she always needs to be alone before rituals. It's a Zoey thing," Erin said, moving to Zoey’s side hooking her arm with Zoey’s.

"Yep, we call it Z.A.T.-Zoey Alone Time," Shaunee said, joining the three of us hooking her arm with Zoey’s empty arm.

"It's kinda annoying, but what can you do?" Erik said, moving around behind Zoey resting his hands on her shoulders. "That's our Z."

"Well, I want you to be sure you limit your alone time in the near future," Neferet told me in a mildly chastising tone. “However, well done Percy for taking initiative and acting like a true vampire warrior.”

"I will. Sorry," Zoey mumbled.

“Thank you,” I said with Zoey’s apology.

"And now, on to the ritual." Regally, Neferet strode out from the group, causing the warriors to scramble to keep up with her and leaving me and the rest of the group in the figurative dust. Of course, we followed her. What else could we do?

"So, did you get the dirty done?" Shaunee whispered.

“Which dirty are you talking about?” I asked, causing people to laugh a bit.

Erin rolled her eyes, smiling. “Heath. Breakup. Zoey with him," she whispered.

“Oh that!” Zoey said and her yes lit up in excitement. “Yeah, and it felt good.” 

"I was worried about you today." Erik had moved up and neatly nudged Shaunee from her place beside Zoey. I expected the Twins to hiss and spit at him, but instead they waggled their brows at us and fell back to walk with Damien and me. 

I heard Shaunee murmur, "So damn fiiiiine." I couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact they could face Neferet and Erik’s looks is what did them in. 

"Sorry," Zoey said hastily, feeling guilty about how nice it felt when he took my hand. "I didn't mean to worry you. We just had some tasks to accomplish."

Erik grinned and laced his fingers through Zoey’s. "I hope you guys had an easy time with those tasks- and I hope Heath got the message this time.”

“Poor boy looked like Zoey hit him with a baseball bat.” I said then blocked. “Did I just call Heath a poor boy?”

That’s when we all chuckled and Zoey leaned against Erik smiling. She looked so stress free being next to Erik that made me smile. 

"How are you today, Zoey?"

Suddenly my blood went cold as I heard a voice I really wished I wouldn’t hear tonight. Zoey held tightly onto Erik’s hand and I saw how his eyes narrowed at Loren. 

"I'm fine. Thanks," I said.

"You slept well last night? I wondered how you'd managed after last night.” He then gave Erik an I-am-older-then-you-so-I-know-more look. “She had quite a shock last night.”

"Yeah, I know." Erik's clipped the words out. “So did Percy, Shaunee, Damien, Erin, and Aphrodite.” I could feel the tension between them and wondered if anyone else had noticed. 

When I heard Damien say mutter something about kicking Loren in the shins I realized in fact they did notice. I also smiled at my friends' reactions. 

We'd caught up to the group of adults that were now standing around what I realized was the trapdoor in the east wall and Zoey suddenly said, “Hey! Why are we stopped here?"

"Neferet is offering prayers for Professor Nolan's spirit, as well as invoking a protective spell around the school grounds," Loren said. His voice sounded way too friendly and my blood started to boil.

"But isn't her blood and stuff still..." I trailed off making a vague gesture out at the grassy area on the other side of the wall, the horrible grassy area that had been drenched with Professor Nolan's blood just yesterday.

"No, don't worry. Neferet has had it cleansed," Loren said simply looking at me and I could see the annoyance in his eyes. Neferet's solemn but powerful voice broke through our little drama, calling everyone's attention to her.

"We are going to move through the trapdoor to the site of the atrocity. Make a crescent around the statue of our beloved Goddess, which I placed in the exact spot Professor Nolan's ravaged body was discovered. I ask that you concentrate your hearts and minds on sending positive energy to our fallen sister as her spirit flies free to the wondrous realm of Nyx. Fledglings," her gaze swooped over us, "I want you each to take your position by the candle which represents your element." Neferet's eyes were kind, her voice gentle. "I know it is unusual to use fledglings in an adult ritual, but never before has a House of Night been gifted with so many extraordinary young people at one time, and today I believe it is only right that I tap into your affinities to add power to what we ask of Nyx." I could practically feel Damien and the Twins vibrating with excitement. "Can you do this for me, for us, fledglings?"

They all nodded and the High Priestess smiled, clearly pleased with herself and I wondered if anyone else could see past her beautiful exterior to the cold, calculating person within. Neferet turned and ducked through the open trapdoor followed closely by the rest of us. I'd readied myself for something terrible, or at the very least for something bloody, but Loren had been right. The area that had been so gruesome just yesterday had been completely cleansed of any nastiness, and I wondered briefly how the Tulsa cops had gathered their evidence, and then shook myself. Surely Neferet had waited for them to do their job before she'd cleaned everything. Hadn't she?

In the spot where Professor Nolan's body had been there was now a beautiful statue of Nyx that looked like it had been carved from a single slab of onyx. Her hands were upraised, and within them she held a thick green candle symbolizing earth. Without speaking, the vamps formed a semicircle around the statue. Zoey, Damien, Shaunee, and Erin went and took their place by a large candle representing their element. I could see the warriors had spread out and were surrounding us. With their backs to our group they stared out into the night, bristling with alertness. Without any of her usual theatrics (which were always cool to watch), Neferet walked to Damien, who was nervously holding the yellow wind candle, and raised the ceremonial lighter.

"It fills us and breathes life into us. I call wind to our circle." Neferet's voice was strong and clear, obviously augmented by the power of a High Priestess. She touched the lighter to the candle's wick and instantly wind whipped around Damien and her. Neferet's back was to me, so I couldn't see her face, but Damien's smile was wide and joyous. I tried not to scowl. This ceremony was not a place for me to be angry, but I wished others could see through her lies.

She moved to Shaunee. "It warms and succors us. I call fire to our circle." As I'd experienced several times before, Shaunee's red candle burst into flame before the lighter touched it. Shaunee's smile was almost as bright as her element.

Neferet followed the circle around to Erin. "It soothes and washes us. I call water to our circle." As the candle lit I heard waves crashing on a distant beach and smelled salt and sea in the night breeze. It helped me relax and focus on Professor Nolan. I watched carefully as Neferet moved to stand before the statue of Nyx and the green candle. The High Priestess bowed her head. "The fledgling who personified this element perished, and it is fitting that the position of earth remain empty tonight, and that it rests upon the spot our beloved Patricia Nolan's body has recently rested upon. It sustains us. From it we are born, and to it we all shall return. I call earth to our circle." Neferet lit the green candle, and though it burned brightly I didn't smell even a hint of green meadows or wildflowers.

Then Neferet was standing in front of Zoey. I held my breath as I saw the stirn expression on her face. "It is our essence. I call spirit to our circle." Neferet lit the purple candle and I felt my soul lift with the tickle-tummy feeling a roller coaster gives me. The High Priestess didn't pause to share any kind of special look with Zoey, instead she began to work the crowd. Walking around inside the circle, making eye contact with the vampyres who surrounded us, she got right to the point. "It hasn't happened for more than one hundred years-not so openly-not so brutally. Humans have murdered one of us. In this case they have awakened not a sleeping giant, but have provoked a leopard who they believed was tamed." Neferet's voice rose, powerful with anger. "She is not tamed!" The little hairs on my arms lifted. Neferet was amazing. How could someone who was so blessed by Nyx have gone as wrong as I knew she'd gone? "They believe our fangs have been filed flat and our claws removed, like a fat household tabby. Again, they are wrong." She raised her arms over her head. "From this sacred circle, cast on the site of a murder, we call on our Goddess, Nyx, the beautiful Personification of Night. We ask that she welcome Patricia Nolan to her bosom, though it is decades too early for her to have departed. We also ask Nyx to rouse her righteous anger, and with the sweetness of her pine fury, to grant us this spell of protection so that we will not be caught in the humans' murderous web.” As she spoke the spell Neferet walked back to Nyx's statue.

"Protect us with the night;

above all it is in darkness we delight.”

When she turned to face the crowd I saw that she was now holding a small, ivory-handled knife with a wickedly-sharp-looking curved blade.

"Around this coven we ask

Nyx's curtain to be cast."

With one hand she lifted the knife. With the other she wove intricate shapes in the air that around her became glittery and semi-substantial as she continued incanting the spell.

"All who enter or leave I shall detect,

vampyre, fledgling, human, all will be checked.

If harm is meant

to my will it shall be bent."

Then, in a fast, ferocious gesture, Neferet slashed through her wrist, so deep that her blood instantly began to spurt, red and rich, hot and metallic. The scent washed around me, automatically making my mouth water. (Which surprised me- it didn’t affect me that way before.) With grim determination, the High Priestess walked the circumference of the circle so that her blood fell around us in a scarlet arch, sprinkling grass that had so recently been soaked with Professor Nolan's blood. Finally she reached Nyx's statue again. Neferet lifted her face to the night sky and completed the spell.

"My blood binds thee,

so mote it be."

I swear the night air rippled all around us, and for a moment I could actually see something settle on the walls of the school, like a black, gauzy curtain. She's set a spell that will not just tell her when danger enters the school, but when anyone enters or leaves it. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from groaning. No way was the curtain of a goddess going to be fooled by Zoey’s Bram Stoker-ing. How in the hell were we going to sneak Stevie Rae her blood?

Completely preoccupied with my own thoughts and worries, I hardly noticed when Neferet closed the circle. Woodenly, I let the tide of people carry me back through the trapdoor. I only snapped out of it when Erik’s voice snapped me out and we caught up to the herd. 

"I'll meet you in the rec hall in a little while." Loren said to Zoey when me and Erik caught up with her. She looked at him with a confused look and he just smiled, "Your Full Moon Ritual. I'm your bard tonight for the opening of the circle, remember?"

Zoey then stood up straight, “I’m sorry professor but Erik had already offered to be my bard yesterday. While I appreciate your offer I would rather keep what I had already decided."

“Ah, of course Miss Redbird.” Loren said and awkwardly walked away and Erik wrapped his arm around her. He had a big frown as he watched as Loren walked away. I looked at Erik then nudged him and he looked at me. 

“Hey man, look I get it but I doubt Zoey wants you to be Jealous.” I said and he sighed nodding.

“I really don’t want you to be super Jealous, hello I snuck out to break up with Heath once and for all.” Zoey said, giving him a smile. “And, I don’t Loren.”

“You’re affected by him.” Erik said as he looked at her. “He is using his vamp persuasion to fog your mind- it just doesn’t work now that you have a support system.” 

Zoey nodded then she looked like she remembered something. “Oh hell- Percy we need to finish some dirty business.” 

“Want us to finish the last minute preparations?” Annabeth asked walking up to us with a smile. 

“Yes- it’s some SR dirty business.” Zoey said and Nico looked at me. 

“So how is the family?” He asked and suddenly everyone became super interested. 

“Staying with SR. Apparently Demigods smell bad to SR’s type of Vamp.” I said and everyone looked confused at me. “It means they are safe with her.” 

“Well you two better hurry off and finish this work you need to do.” Shaunee said hooking her arms with Annabeth’s and Erin’s.

Erin then hooked her’s with Nico who couldn’t help but smile. “Go on, hurry up- oh and don’t forget to bring the  _ reformed  _ hag.” 

Zoey and I shook my head but Zoey hugged Erik and we ran off to do some last minute cramming, trying to find a ritual that could help Stevie Rae. Annabeth winked at me before I ran off with Zoey. She knew what we were up to. 


	10. Epiphanies and Changes

We had gone to get dressed and I was waiting outside Zoey’s dorm, trying to convince myself that this ritual was going to be a snap. Zoey would just cast a quick circle, offer up prayers for Professor Nolan, announce that Aphrodite was rejoining the Dark Daughters (which I would hope would go well because of Aphrodite’s new affinity for Earth), and then say that because of the stress that the school has been dealing with she decided not to Tap any new Prefect Council members till the end of the school year. It really should be an easy ritual. I told myself over and over again. Nothing like last month when Stevie Rae died. Nothing that bad could happen tonight. 

"Take a breath, will ya?" Aphrodite suddenly said looking at me. She was wearing a simple black dress clearly ready for the ritual. “They have to wait for Zoey.”

"Aphrodite, has no one ever told you that it's rude to keep people waiting?" Zoey said as she stepped out of her dorm completely dressed. The three of us hurried down the hall, practically skipped down the stairs two at a time. Aphrodite scrambling to keep up with us- I felt kinda bad for her as she clearly was trying to be on her best behavior. Zoey nodded at Darius, who had taken up his position outside, and he saluted Zoey.

"You know, those warriors really are some totally hot-looking vamps," Aphrodite said in a low voice, craning her neck around to get a last view of Darius. Then she then looked over at Zoey in a defensive voice and answered Zoey’s question, "And no, no one has ever told me it's rude to keep people waiting. I was raised to keep people waiting. As far as my mother's concerned, the sun waits for her before it rises and sets." I wondered if Aphrodite knew that her godly mother felt the same way.

"So how did Neferet's ritual go?" Zoey asked us to slow down a bit.

"Fabulous. She set a protective curtain around the school. No one gets in or out without her knowing about it. Couldn't be better. Oh, that is, unless you're us." Aphrodite said relaxing in her tone of voice. Then even though there was no one around us, Aphrodite lowered her voice. "She's still gulping down the bags of blood?"

"She's barely hanging on. We gotta do something soon." I answered her with my voice just as low.

"I don't know what the hell you think we're gonna do," Aphrodite said. "You're the one with the mega-powers. I'm just along for the ride." She paused and lowered her voice even more. “Do you think your family will help her?"

“First- they are your family now too- your half-sister is literally staying with SR, they all are.” I said and looked up at the sky. “They will help her, but I don’t know how they can.”

“What about getting her blood through some weird godly blood service?” Aphrodite asked and I chuckled a bit.

“I don’t think there is a godly blood delivering service, but maybe I could ask Thalia if Artemis could help us with that part.” I said then looked at Zoey. “But I think the best course of action would be to heal SR as quickly as possible.” 

“Alright then, then we’ll heal her.” Aphrodite said simply.

“It’s not that simple.” Zoey said, kinda annoyed.

“How do you know, have you tried?” Aphrodite asked and Zoey stopped in her tracks.

"What did you just say?" Aphrodite raised an eyebrow at Zoey then shrugged.

“Something like, have you tried?" She answered looking at Zoey.

"Holy crap! Could it be that easy? I mean, I've been spending all this time looking for a spell or a ritual or a ... a ... something specific and amazing and totally magical, and maybe all I needed to do is just ask Nyx to heal her." And as I stood there basking in Zoey’s epiphany, I heard Nyx's voice echo through my mind, repeating what the goddess had told us a month ago: I wish to remind you that the elements can restore as well as destroy.

"Holy crap? You said holy crap? You know, that's another almost cuss. I'm starting to worry about your terrible potty mouth." Aphrodite said amused to mask her confusion.

Zoey laughed excited and a big smile on her face. "Come on! Worry about my mouth later." We took off again, almost jogging down the sidewalk. There was another of the warriors standing outside the rec hall. We all quickly went inside Aphrodite ignoring the fact that he was kinda hot.

"Z! Percy! There you are." Jack came scampering over to me with Damien close behind him.

"Sorry. We hurried as fast as we could," I said.

Damien smiled. "Not a problem. Everything's ready for you." He then looked at Aphrodite and gave her a nod. “Did you guys finish the dirty work?”

"We did, but I need to talk to you guys after the ritual. So, go ahead and take your place." Damien nodded with a smile. He went back to the circle and Jack moved over to the audio equipment area.

"Whenever you're ready, just let me know," Jack called.

Zoey smiled at him, then looked back at the circle as I went to join the crowd of fledglings and Annabeth grabbed my hand and leaned against me. The Twins winked at me from their places in the south and west. Erik was standing near the empty spot behind the earth candle looking over a paper, which I concluded was the poem he was resighting. Aphrodite then moved to her place but hesitated, and thought her face went kinda pale as she looked over at the circle of waiting Dark Daughters and Sons. Then she lifted her chin and tossed back her blond mane, and ignoring everyone, she strutted straight over to the northernmost part of the circle to stand behind the green candle. As kids caught sight of her, the easy talking was cut off like someone had pressed a mute button. No one said anything for a couple seconds, and then low whispering started. Aphrodite just stood there behind the candle, looking calm and beautiful and very stuck-up.

Suddenly the music started and I saw that Erik moved closer to Jack and all eyes were on Zoey. I didn't recognize the song, but the beat was steady, rhythmic, sonorous, reminding me of a pulse. Zoey began to move around the outside of the circle, and Erik’s voice complemented the music perfectly.

_ I have been one acquainted with the night. _

_ I have walked out in rain-and back in rain... _

The words of the old poem set the mood perfectly, somehow conjuring images of the otherworldliness that reminded me of how it felt being in Olympus in front of the Gods.

I _ have looked down the saddest city lane. _

_ I have passed by the watchman on his heat _

_ And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain. _

I closed my eyes listening to the poem relaxing holding onto Annabeth’s hand. I felt this sense of comforting darkness. I only opened my eyes when I heard Damien gasp and saw how Zoey shimmered with the mist she had used to cover us to meet with Stevie Rea.

_ And further still at an unearthly height, _

_ A luminary clock against the sky  _

_ Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right. _

_ I have been one acquainted with the night. _

Erik’s voice faded away and Zoey twirled around one last time, now fully visible. She picked up the ritual lighter from the riches-laden table in the center of the circle and walked lightly over to stand in front of Damien. He smiled and whispered to Zoey who just smiled in response. She lifted the lighter and spoke words that sounded poetic. "Soft and whispering winds from afar, greetings be unto thee. In the name of Nyx I call you to blow clear and fresh and free, and call you here to me!" As she touched the flame to wic air circled around the two of them. 

She hurried to Shaunee and her red candle beginning the invocation without lifting the lighter. “Warming and quickening fire from afar, with the warmth that brings forth life, and in the name of Nyx, I send greetings unto thee, and call you here to me!" She flicked her fingers at the candlewick, and it burst into a beautiful flame. 

With a smile Zoey made her way to Erin and lifted the lighter- Erin looking completely excited. "Cool waters of lake and of stream from afar, I offer greetings to thee. Flow clear and pure and swift in magical presence here. In the name of Nyx manifest so that we shall see, as I call you here to me!" She touched the lighter to Erin's blue candle and the kids standing closest to her gasped and laughed as water that was visible, but that didn't actually touch them, lapped all around Erin's feet.

"Easy-peasy," Erin whispered and I chuckled.

Zoey grinned and moved clockwise to stand in front of Aphrodite and her green candle. The gentle laughter and happy whispering that had been traveling through the group with me quieted. Aphrodite's face was an emotionless mask. It was only in her eyes that I could see her nervous fear, and I wondered for a second how long she'd been hiding her emotions. Knowing her nightmare parents, I figured it had been a long time.

"It's going to be okay," Zoey whispered almost without moving her lips at all.

"I may puke," Aphrodite whispered back.

"Nah!" Zoey grinned and then lifted her voice and spoke beautiful words that I couldn’t help but think about STevie Rae listening to them.

"Lands afar and wild places of the earth, greetings I say unto thee. Awaken from your mossy sleep to bring forth bounty and beauty and stability. In Nyx's name I call earth here to me!" Zoey lit Aphrodite's candle and the fresh, rich scent of a newly mown hay field completely filled the rec hall. Zoey met Aphrodite's shining eyes, and then turned to glance around the rest of the circle. Everyone was staring at Aphrodite, shocked into absolute silence.

"Yes," Zoey said simply, cutting through all the questions I knew were milling around in their heads, and (hopefully) putting an end to their doubts. They might not like her-they might not trust her-but they had to accept the fact that Nyx had blessed her. "Aphrodite has been blessed with an affinity for the element earth." Then she went to the center of the circle and picked up her purple candle. "Spirit filled with magic and night, whispering the soul of the Goddess, friend and stranger, mystery and knowledge, in Nyx's name I call thee here to me!" Her candle lit, and she stood very still while the familiar cacophony of all five elements filled her, body and soul.

She then moved to lit the braided rope of dried eucalyptus and sage, and then blew them out, and once the smoke s was whirling around her, She faced outward and began speaking, as conscious of all the eyes on me as I was of the glistening silver thread that so visibly tied together my circle. “Merry meet!" She cried.

Then we responded with, "Merry meet!" 

I could feel my tension start to relax as she addressed them. “You all know by now that yesterday Professor Nolan was killed. It was as horrible and true as the rumors have made it out to be. Right now I'd like to ask you to join me in asking Nyx to soothe her spirit and also to soothe us." She paused and met her gaze with Erik’s "I haven't been here very long, but I know a lot of you were really close to Professor Nolan." Erik tried to smile, but his lips didn’t turn up, and he blinked hard to keep the tears from falling down his cheeks. I put my hand on Nico’s shoulder once I heard him suck in his breath. "She was a good teacher, and a nice person. We're going to miss her. Let's send her spirit a final blessed be." 

We all responded with a heartfelt shout of "Blessed be!" 

Zoey paused waiting for everyone to quiet down before she addressed us again. "I know I was supposed to announce who has been chosen to be Tapped for the Prefect Council, but because of everything that has happened in the past month I've decided to wait until the end of this school year, and then the Council and I will get together and have several names to pass along to you for your vote. Until then I have decided to automatically add one more fledgling to our Council." She was speaking matter-of-factly, as if she wasn't saying anything that most of them would think was a completely insane idea. "As you've already seen, Aphrodite has been given an affinity for earth. Like Stevie Rae, that gives her a position on our Council. Also like Stevie Rae, she has agreed to abide by my new rules for the Dark Daughters." She turned then so that she could meet Aphrodite's eyes, and Aphrodite gave her a tight, nervous smile, and then nodded her head once. Then, not giving them time to start to babble among themselves, Zoey took the goblet of sweet red wine from Nyx's table and began the official invocation of the Full Moon Prayer.

"Again this month we find that with the full moon we have to face many new beginnings. Last month it was a new order of the Dark Daughters and Sons. This month it is a new member of the Prefect Council, and the sadness of a professor's death. I've only been your leader for one month, but already I know that I-" She paused and then corrected herself. "I mean that we can trust Nyx to love us and be with us, even when really awful things happen." She lifted the goblet and worked my way around the circle, reciting the beautiful old poem she'd memorized the month before.

_ Airy light of the moon _

_ Mystery of the deep earth _

_ Power of the flowing water _

_ Warmth of the burning flame _

_ In Nyx's name we call to thee! _

She offered each fledgling a taste of wine, nodding as they smiled at her. When she got to me I gave her an encouraging look which she smiled at.

_ Healing of ills _

_ Righting of wrongs _

_ Cleansing of impurity _

_ Desiring of truths _

_ In Nyx's name we call to thee! _

Everyone murmured  _ blessed be  _ after we drank and I watched as Zoey moved confidently around the circle offering them a drink.

_ Sight of the cat _

_ Hearing of the dolphin _

_ Speed of the snake _

_ Mystery of the phoenix _

_ In Nyx's name we call to thee _

_ and ask that with us you will blessed be! _

She then offered Aphrodite a drink and I swear I saw her mutter something to Zoey. Zoey smiled and drank the last of the wine and put the goblet back on the table. In reverse order, Zoey thanked each element and sent them away in turn, as Aphrodite, Erin, Shaunee, and Damien blew out their candles. Then she completed the ritual by saying, "This Full Moon Rite has ended. Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!"

Then we echoed, "Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!" 

I remember smiling and getting ready to go off with the circle to tell them about Zoey’s idea to heal Stevie Rae when suddenly I heard Erik cry out in pain.


	11. Loren's True Colors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter deals with Sexual Assault, if that harms you or in any way makes you feel uncomfortable please skip this chapter. Your discretion has been advised.

"No!” Zoey screamed, running over to Erik and falling to her knees beside him. He was on his hands and knees, groaning in pain, with his head almost touching the floor. I couldn't see his face, but I could see that sweat-or maybe even blood, though I didn't smell it- it was already soaking his shirt. No, this was different- he wasn’t sick before. He didn’t even look sick now. I walked over at Zoey who looked around frantically for help. As always, Damien was there when she needed him. "Get towels and Neferet," She said. Damien took off with Jack on his heels.

She turned back to Erik, but before She could pull him into his arms, Aphrodite's voice cut through the noise of his moans and the sounds of the frightened, watching crowd of kids. "Zoey, he's not dying." Zoey looked up at her, not really getting what Aphrodite was saying. She grabbed Zoey’s arm and pulled Zoey away from Erik. Zoey struggled, but Aphrodite’s next words got through to Zoey and made her freeze. "Listen to me! He's not dying. He's Changing."

Suddenly Erik screamed, his body curling in on itself as if something inside his chest was trying to claw its way free. His hands were pressed against his face. He was still trembling violently. Clearly, he was in pain and something big was happening to him. But there was absolutely no blood. Aphrodite was right. Erik was Changing into an adult vampyre.

Jack rushed up and thrust several towels into Zoey’s hands. The kid was bawling so hard he was snotting on himself. Zoey stood up and hugged him.

"He's not dying. He's Changing." Zoey’s voice sounded weird-hoarse and strained-as she repeated Aphrodite's words.

Then Neferet burst into the room with Damien and several of the warriors following close behind her. She ran over to Erik. I watched her face closely, and felt a dizzying rush of relief as her tense, worried expression changed instantly to one of joy. Neferet dropped gracefully to the floor beside him. Murmuring something so softly that I couldn't catch the words, she gently touched his shoulder. His body jerked violently once, and then he began to relax. His awful trembling stopped, and so did his scary, painful moaning. Slowly Erik's body unwrapped from around itself and he pulled himself to his hands and knees. His head was still bent down toward the floor, so I couldn't see his face.

Neferet whispered something else to him and he nodded in response. Then she stood and turned to us. Her smile was amazing, completely filled with joy and almost blindingly beautiful. "Rejoice fledglings! Erik Night has completed the Change. Arise, Erik, and follow me for your purification ritual and the beginning of your new life!"

Erik stood up and raised his head. His face was luminous. It seemed someone had turned a switch on inside him. He'd been handsome before, but now everything was intensified. His eyes were bluer, his thick hair was wild and black and dangerous, he even appeared taller. And his Mark had been completed. The sapphire crescent was filled in. And framing his eyes, along his brows and over his well-defined cheekbones, was a stunning pattern of interlocking knots that formed the shape of a mask, reminding me instantly of Professor Nolan's beautiful Mark. I felt dizzy with the Tightness of it. Then he raised his arms over his head and cried out in a voice filled with power and pure joy, "I've Changed!"

All the kids started to cheer, though no one except Neferet and the vamps actually approached him.

"They'll take him to be anointed into the service of the Goddess," Aphrodite said. She was still standing beside me and Zoey, yet her voice sounded as bleak. “Fledglings don't know exactly what happens during the anointing. It's a big vamp secret, and they're not allowed to tell." She shrugged. "Whatever. Guess we'll find out some day."

"Or we die," I said through numb lips.

"Or we die," she agreed. Then she looked at Zoey. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Fine," She said automatically.

"Hey, Z! Was that cool or what?" Jack said.

"Man, it was incredible. I'm still reeling!" Damien fanned himself and his large vocabulary.

"Oh, baby! Now Erik Night joins the other vamp hotties like Brandon Routh and Josh Hartnett.

“And Jake Gyllenhaal, Twin. Do not leave his hottiness out," Erin said.

"Wouldn't think of it, Twin," Shaunee said.

"It is totally cool that Z's boyfriend is a vamp. I mean a real one," Jack said. Damien took a breath to say something and then shut his mouth and looked uncomfortable.

"What?" Zoey said.

"Well, it's just that... uh ... well..." He hesitated.

"God, what is it? Just spit it out!" Zoey snapped.

He flinched at Zoey’s tone, making me feel a bit upset, but answered her. "Well, I don't know much about it, but once a fledgling goes through the Change he leaves the House of Night and starts his life as a full-grown vampyre."

"Zoey's boyfriend is gonna leave?" Jack said.

"Long-distance relationship, Z," Erin said quickly.

"Yeah, you two will work it out. Easy-peasy," Shaunee said. Zoey looked from the Twins to Damien and Jack, Annabeth, Nico, Will, and I, and finally at Aphrodite.

She nodded and took a deep breath still a bit shaken. I placed a hand on her shoulder and she smiled. “Yeah, we will.” She then gave us a smile and stood up straighter. “Let’s all get something to eat and clean up. Me and Percy need to catch you guys up on SR and Percy’s family.” 

It seemed like it took forever for the Dark Daughters and Sons to eat and then clear out, but when I looked at the clock I realized that they had actually eaten quickly and were leaving early. There had been a lot of excited talk about Erik. Finally I realized the only kids left were us. So we quietly start to throw away the leftovers and bag up the trash.

"Uh, guys, I'll get that," Zoey said.

"We're just about done, Z," Damien said. "Really all that's left is to put away the stuff on Nyx's table in the middle of the circle."

"I'll do that," She said, nonchalantly.

"Z, is everything-" Will started to ask but Zoey held up her hand.

"I'm tired. I'm kinda freaked about Erik. And, honestly, I need some alone time." She sounded stressed and took a deep breath. "Guys, could you just give me awhile. Please?"

"No problem," the Twins said together. "Later, Z."

"All right. I'll, uh, see you later, too," Damien said.

"Bye, Z," Jack said.

“Z-bird, do you want me to accompany you? Or is it total Z.A.T.?” I asked her and she gave me a smile. 

“Total Z.A.T- and while I’m gone can you catch everyone up on my idea?” She asked and I nodded. 

She left rubbing her temples and I watched till the door closed getting a bad feeling. Aphrodite then nudged me a little bit as we all sat down after finishing cleaning up. We all sat at a table and everyone looked at me with a mixture of excitement and worry. They had the feeling too. I pushed my own feeling down and cleared my throat. 

“You guys all know how Zoey helped heal our minds from N’s weird mind erasing stuff?” They all nodded and I took a deep breath once again as I noticed Will’s expression change looking at me in the eyes. “Zoey thinks she can do what she did, and ask the elements and Nyx to help restore SR’s humanity and complete her new change.”

That’s when Will stood up shaking and I stood up as well. “Percy- I know she said she needs to be alone. But she’s not in control with whatever is happening to her.” 

“What do you mean- how do you know?” I frantically asked. 

“I can keep tabs on the emotions of people- like I’m the ultimate empath or something- just go to Zoey I’ll explain more later.” Will said and I ran out of the room we were in trying to see if I could hear Zoey. 

That’s when I saw Zoë, she then led me to where she saw Zoey and my blood boiled. Loren had Zoey pinned against the wall, her dress completely torn off and she was completely dazed. I smelt the iron scent of blood and went to pull Loren off of where he had his face to her breasts. When I put my hand on his shirt he reared up and smirked at me. He looked proud of himself. Like he already got what he wanted. I clenched my teeth looking at Zoey who looked as if she realized what had happened and was shaking, literally holding herself as she curled up on the floor. 

I looked back at him and took riptide out of my pocket. He looked down at me and cackled. “Oh I may be a poet lit, but even I know the pen isn’t actually mightier than a sword.” 

“Yeah, well mine is both- and you just violated a minor. She’s only seventeen.” I retorted through clenched teeth uncapping riptide then pointing it at him. I looked down at Zoë who was puffed up at Loren. “Go find the herd.” I said to her and she ran off. 

“Oh like a bunch of fledglings are going to be able to fight me-” I cut him off putting the tip of riptide to his throat. He sneered at me as I stared him down. “This is against the rules-”

“I’m sure violating a student is against the rules too.” I said not standing down, knowing I was going to need to help get Zoey out of here, I sent a silent plea to Artemis and Nyx that the herd would get here on time. 

“Look kid- it’s too late Zoey is mine now. We’ve  _ imprinted _ .” He sneered and my blood started to boil. It calmed down as I heard frantic footsteps coming my way. 

I heard Zoey sob and it took everything in me to not ram this sword through his throat right here and now. Suddenly I heard the door open and I saw Loren’s eyes widen and he looked down at me. 

“Zoey!” I heard Erik’s voice cry and out of the corner of my eye I saw him go to Zoey and bring her closer to him using his jacket to cover her.

“Erik, take her out of here.” I said keeping my gaze directly on the man in front of me. “Go through the doors that will lead to the eating area, get her to Will. Tell Nico to come here.” 

“On it.” I heard Erik say in a harsh tone directed towards Loren. Loren then looked at me with a glare. 

“What makes you think-” Loren started to say and I touched the tip to his throat.

“I am the son of Poseidon. Nico is the son of Hades. You do the math Professor.” I said then gave him a little smirk. “You’re not the first teacher that I would have killed.” Suddenly I felt the presents of someone behind Loren and I saw that Stygian Iron Sword towards his back. I met Nico’s gaze and smirked. “Alright Loren, here is the deal, either we kill you now or you go running back to Neferet, your tail between your legs, and you say you failed to do what she wanted.” 

“And if you don’t- my sword and I can send you straight to my dad.” Nico said with malice. That’s when I saw Loren admit defeat, he relaxed and looked me in the eyes. 

So I smirked, “Give me your oath or swear upon the river styx.” I said and his eye twitched. “Tell me you will leave, tell Neferet you have failed and promise you will not come near Zoey willingly.” 

“I swear upon the river styx that I will leave, tell Neferet I have failed, and promise I will not come near Zoey willingly.” He said and the ground rumbled as lightning flashed above and his face turned white.

I dropped my sword from his throat and caped riptide putting it back in my pocket. Nico turned his sword back into his ring with a slight smirk on his face. “For your own heath- you should break the oath you just made.” Nico said and we walked back to meet up with the others not looking at a horrified Loren Blake. 


End file.
